2019 SB20 Grand Slam in Hyeres, France - Overall
by Jane Austin, SB20 Australia Media 6 Oct 2019 16:44 PDT
19-25 October 2019
Robin Follin, and his crew of Emeric Michel, Germain Gaulthier and Laurie Candela, have sailed Give Me Five FFV Youth to victory in the 2019 French Grand Slam in Hyeres, France, and have seriously thrown down the gauntlet to the entire 2019 Worlds entry list.
Follin sailed a remarkable series, winning six of the nine race series, finishing the regatta on 15 points. In second place was current French and UK National Champion John Pollard, Jack Wetherell and Stephen Procter (Xcellent/GBR) on 31 points. The Russian team of Igor Ginzburg, Andrii Klochko, Zhanna Manukiam and Hugo Rocha (Absolut) finished the regatta in third place on 42 points.
Skipper Robin Follin was pleased with his team's performance. "Like in 2018, we won the pre-Worlds, but we know that is not the good one to win. The objective is clear, and we decided to come back on the SB [20] with only one goal, bring the title back like in 2015. We sailed a very nice Grand Slam this year with tricky winds, but lots of very nice improvements for us," said Follin.
The French Grand Slam is an important leadup event to the 2019 SB20 World Championship which will be sailed in Hyeres, 19-25 October 2019.
The final day of sailing proved a frustrating one for sailors and PRO Jean Diaz alike. Race Seven was delayed an hour due to light conditions, however, it took two general recalls, one abandonment and plenty of wind shifts before racing got fully under way. Three races looked unlikely at one stage. PRO Diaz and the race committee held the fleet while the breeze settled enough to get Race Eight away, and were on the receiving end of some luck from the weather gods, getting the final race under way before the 1500 cut-off.
The Australian crews finished in the top ten with Brett Cooper, Jock Calvert and Darren 'Twirler' Jones (Aeolus) the best performing overall, finishing in fifth place on 54 points. Andrew Smith, Lewis Noye and Mikael Mergui (The Imp) finished on 76 points in eighth place, and Elliott Noye, Paul McCartney and Ed Snowball (Porco Rosso), finished in ninth on 80 points. Porco Rosso didn't sail the last race due to flight commitments.
Andrew Smith, skipper of The Imp, experienced a tough last day of the regatta. "We had 5-15 knots and 10-20-degree shifts; getting to the top mark in the top three meant nothing. In the third race [Race Nine], we were second at the top mark the first time and ten-wide rounding the bottom mark. "Mark-rounding's are noisy and it's probably better that we didn't understand the language," said Smith.
Smith was impressed with his new team's performance. "We finished eighth overall which was an awesome start for us. My brilliant crew made it all work - Lewis Noye was a star performer and Mikael Mergui (Tassie) a brilliant addition; it was an absolute pleasure to sail with these guys," said Smith. Smith welcomes SB20 Australian Champion David Chapman back on board for the Worlds.
'Twirler' Jones, mainsheet trimmer on Aeolus, was circumspect after the three-day regatta. "We had a decent day today, but it will be a hard regatta to win next week. We are all focused and the Australian team did well. If the cards fall the way of any of the Australian teams, they are all capable of winning," said Jones. "Andrew Smith was definitely unlucky this event. He proved he has good boat speed and was in the top three several times, but it's a tricky racecourse and unfortunately, he lost out a few times. We were, on the other hand, lucky to come back from some deep positions and in the end prospered well," said Jones.
The Worlds fleet will be strengthened once again with more entries from Russia, Portugal, Ireland and the all women / youth team, Essence of Athena, from the Derwent Sailing Squadron's Essence of Athena sailing program.
Thanks to COYCH, Hyeres, PRO Jean Diaz, volunteers, jury and the Race Committee for a fantastic regatta.
Full results available here.