J/99 Silver in the French IRC Doublehanded Series

Duo Cat Amania 2019 © Sylvain Huet

Forty-eight teams participated in the multi-stage doublehanded series in France called the DUO CAT-AMANIA. Racing from port-to-port has its advantages for duet teams, as the camaraderie of enjoying beautiful seaside restaurants every night has its merits.

In the fourth stage (leg) of the series, the competitors sailed 44 miles in a very light wind at around 5 knots. It was a navigational challenge, an exercise in patience, during which the fleet made a loop around the Glénan archipelago and went up under spinnaker until Guidel, where the Race Committee reduced the course and sent them directly to Locmiquélic. The day was long and the competitors arrived at the end of the day at the port.

Philippe Baetz and Yves Chuberre's J/112E MUSIX took the stage victory with an enormous 30 minute lead over the next boat to finish.

Baetz commented, "today was my day! We made good choices that paid off and we dug out of a huge gap from halfway through the race. The boat is going very well this season. After a podium at the Spi Ouest-France Destination Morbihan and a victory at the ArMen Race in IRC B, I am delighted. With Yves (Chuberre), we've never trained together as a double team. So, after a few days of racing, we get better and do not make the mistakes of the first days. Luckily there are days like this! I do not even count the number of Duo Cat-Amania I participated in. This is an annual meeting, which is very pleasant and very well organized by a great team!"

The fifth stage of the Duo Cat-Amania 2019 was sailed between Locmiquélic and La Trinité-sur-Mer. Under a bright sun and a wind from very light in the morning to 20 knots at the end of the day, the doublehanded teams made a journey of 46 miles. The Race Committee took advantage of the ideal sailing conditions and sent the fleet on a sightseeing tour. A real tour of the splendors of the Morbihan coast; the tour of the island of Groix, the Birvideaux, the Colts at Belle-Ile, and finally the Béniguet, before crossing the finish line at La Trinité-sur-Mer.

The results of the day relaunched the game for a few boats. Most importantly, the J/99 J-LANCE 14, sailed by Frédéric Bouvier and Benjamin Dutreaux, moved into the second position after getting a 3rd on the leg.

For the sixth and final stage of the series, it was a sprint in the Bay of Quiberon towards the port of Le Crouesty. Leaving La Trinité-sur-Mer on Friday morning, the fleet made short work of the 16-mile course in about ten knots of wind. It was a beautiful last leg under the sun to close a week of sport and fun. Emphatically winning the last race was the J/99 J-LANCE 14, Bouvier & Dutreaux made a valiant effort to dethrone the leaders, but ended up three points shy of the lead in the six race, no-throw out series, to take the silver.

Another J/99 was racing and took 5th place. Like their colleagues on J-LANCE 14, Olivier Grassi and Frederic Duthil's GRASSI BATEAUX started out slowly in the first three races, but closed with the second best record in the regatta for the last half of the event. In fact, the best record went to J-LANCE 14.

Ultimately, the big winner of leg four- Baetz & Chuberre's J/112E MUSIX- happily took the silver in the last race behind J-LANCE 14 to finish eighth.

More DUO CAT-AMANIA Race sailing information here.