RS800 French Nationals at the Quiberon Breizhskiff

RS800s at Quiberon Breizhskiff © Christophe le Bohec, ASN Quiberon

It was a very welcoming atmosphere at Quiberon Breizhskiff event, as it is every year at ASN Quiberon! A fantastic event located in the same bay as the very well known YC Carnac, host of the 2018 RS800 European Championship in May 2018.

A record entry this year, counting up to 106 boats including O'pen Bics, dinghies and skiffs. For the RS800 French fleet, it was a 60+ skiff event with no less than 8 RS800s. We're hoping for more next year as a few teams were missing this year!

A solid 3 days racing with really varied conditions between 6 and 18 knots, with no rain and sun mainly! With the best competitors of the Breizhskiff circuit present, plus some really good French 29er squad teams ready to fight, it was always going to be a hard one to win.

After day one and 3 races in 14-18 knots on flat water, Gilles and Maïwenn secure the best 800 results with 3 third places. Julien Antier and Boris Fritsch, former RS800 team now racing in I14, built a solid 5-6-12 result when the British/French team of Mark Johnson and Leo Deregnieaux, generally efficient in high wind, seem long to wake up with 7-12-2.

RS800s at Quiberon Breizhskiff - photo © Christophe le Bohec, ASN Quiberon

The second day saw a lot of sun with a light breeze of 8-11 knots. 2 classic races allowed Mark/Léo and Axel/François to show good speed and tactics. We were then ready for the biggest part of the day - a long distance race of 1h40m to the Teignouse headlight - the name of the event, and gate of the magnificent Quiberon bay! Concentration and tactic skills were needed to take the lead on a very interesting racecourse. It was a close battle until the end of the last beat where Mark/Léo just won from Gilles/Maiwenn, with a surprising comeback from Morgann/Theo who took an opposite option on the last beat. After those 3 races, everyone was tired but with Oysters as starter, the competitors' meal had no other option than to be a really nice moment in the club before seeing usual volunteers of the club give the dance floor actions!

The last day was even lighter wind with no more than 8 knots, closer to 4-6 knots. Two races with a turning wind allowed Gilles/Maiwenn to finish ahead of Mark/Leo on both races, but it was not enough to take the lead inside the RS800 battle, even less at the general results.

Final results showed a good 29er squad team win in front of Cadre brothers in a B14, already second in Lac du Der. A Fireball was third with Mark/Leo 4th. So we can confirm the 2017 RS800 French National Champions are Mark Johnson and Leo Deregnieaux, from CN Arradon and YC Carnac. Congratulations!

The season will continue this spring/summer for the French RS800s, but everybody is already thinking about next year's Europeans in Carnac in May 2018 where we hope to get the largest French attendance to an RS800 European Championship! We hope to see you all and have the most international fleet we can!

Overall Results: