Club de Voile Ailée - Ecole Navale win J/80 Coupe de France
by J/Boats 14 Nov 2021 13:43 PST
The grand finale for the J/80 Coupe de France took place in Pornic, France, hosted by Cantiere Navalle Pornic, for a fleet of forty-three boats.
The event also determined what teams would end up leading the 2021 J/80 Coupe de France season series of six events.
J/80 Nationals
After a two-day event, it was total domination by ELITE ECOLE NAVALE with team of skipper Pierre Loic Berthet, Christina Ponthieu, Jean Quevaue, Pierre Laouenan, and Tiphaine Ragueneau. Their record was five straight bullets for a 4-pts net scoreline. It would be safe to say, that no one saw this performance coming from anyone, congratulations to the EEN team!
Rounding out the next step on the podium with the silver medal was past French J/80 National Champion- Simon Moriceau on ARMEN HABITAT & PJ YACHTING. While they started out slowly, they closed quickly to with a 9-3-4-2-2 tally for 11 pts net. His crew consisted of Hugo Kerhascoet, Simon Bertheau, Damien Fleury, and Hugo Abeguile.
The final step on the podium was Benoit Charon's JUMPER, with crew of Swann Pain, Arthur Richer, and Thomas Hillmeyer. Their record of 8-12-3-4-3 was good for 18 pts net.
The balance of the top five were two very familiar winning teams on the French J/80 sailing circuit. Taking fourth was Luc Nadal's GAN'JA with 22 pts net and in fifth place was Sylvain Pellissier's INTUITIVE SAILS with 26 pts net.
J/80 Coupe de France winners
This year, the Coupe de France J/80 took off again with more than 80 participants, twice as much as last year. Winning was Pierre Laouenan (Club Voile Ailée), with its victories in Le Havre and Pornic. His crew included Christian Ponthieu, Pierre-Loïc Berthet, Jean Queveau.
Simon Moriceau's APCC crew took second place with a victory in Lorient and a nice 2nd place in the National de Pornic.
Finally, Patrick Bot, who brilliantly "slammed" the Spi-Ouest France Regatta, took the bronze medal on the podium.
The "usual suspects" Sylvain Pellissier, Luc Nadal and Maxime Rousseaux only had a handful of points since they did not sail all four events.
For the first time since the creation of the "MASTER" trophy, it escapes the Bot / Hauville duo who have chosen, this year, to entrust their boat to a youth sailing team. Winning was Jacques Hubert (MCN) who takes the lead ahead of Laurent Corraza and Sylvain Pellissier. The Masters group featured 16 crews (3 crew members including the skipper over 45 years old).
The ESPOIRS classification was dominated by Frank Lavenant, quite logically because he is the only one of the 11 teams in this classification (all the team members are under 26) to be classified in 2 regattas. The expected resumption of activities within student sailing clubs gives hope for more sustained participation in 2022.
Although 20% of the team members are team members, it is clear that we have only counted two FEMALE teams this year, assembled by Isabelle Maggiar and Blandine Jaffrain, both tied on points!
The MIXED crews (50% of women on board) were seven in number, which remains encouraging. But, that does not match the capacity of the J/80 to interest female crews as evidenced by the recurring success of the Women's Cup.
The CLUBS & BASINS classification saw near domination by one team. The Club de Voile Ailée- Ecole Navale sent its commandos to attack each of the 4 regattas on the circuit. The strategy proved all the more profitable as the Brest crews were led to the front by two champions: Patrick Bot and Pierre Laouenan who, between them, won 3 victories out of 4 events. We are not surprised to find the APCC and the Yacht Club Crouesty on the other 2 steps of the podium.
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