Youth Foiling Gold Cup Act 2 in La Grande-Motte, France - Day 5
by 69F Sailing 12 May 2023 10:36 PDT
8-14 May 2023
Youth Foiling Gold Cup Act 2 in La Grande-Motte, France - Day 5 © Marta Rovatti Studihrad / 69F Media
Groupe Atlantic, Luna Rossa Piranha, Rum Runners, Team France Jeune Team JAJO and DutchSail and Luna Rossa Swordfish are the six teams who have made the final stages of the 69F Youth Gold Cup in La Grande Motte.
After a long, beautiful final day of qualifying, the top six who will go through to the weekend's finals are known. All 12 crews spent six hours on the water to complete eight races in steady winds despite the threat of stormy squalls. The good technical sailors of the 69F did best like Clément Cron, Louis Chambet and Jessica Berthoud aboard Groupe Atlantic. With three wins and regular races at the top of the table, the French trio qualified top of the General Classification.
"The important thing was simply to make 'the cut' to be one of the six who go into the final, so not to take too many risks, not to get a penalty and to regularly knock in races in the top 3," confirms Louis Chambet. "Today, with shorter courses, technique and mastery of the boat were important, with a lot of maneuvers to be done in a short space of time. It was also physically very intense, but it was super fun, we had a blast".
The same held true for the Rum Runners, a boat that sails under the banner of Antigua, but with an Italian trio on board who are linked to Luna Rossa. The Italian squad has acquired several 69Fs and trained this winter at home as was evident today off La Grande Motte.
"Our team has a great spirit and everything went well for us today," explains Rocco Falcone, the boat's helmsman. "As in any racing getting a good start was decisive today, sailing cleanly and take the right steps. Sometimes we weren't perfect on the lay lines but we did well in the end".
Tomorrow, everything is reset for the 6 finalists who will compete for the title over the weekend. The rest of the fleet, the "silver" group, will continue to race for the rest of the rankings.
Provisional classification after 12 rounds:
1- Groupe Atlantic Sailing Team, 59 pts
2- Luna Rossa - Piranha, 55.5
3- Rum Runners, 55.5
4- Team France, 48
5- Team JAJO - DutchSail, 45
6- Luna Rossa - Swordfish, 42
7- Clean Sailors Youth Racing Team, 41
8- Normandy Inshore Program, 30.5
9- Volaire, 23.5
10- Enzedder Racing, 23
11- HRM Racing Youth Team, 23
12- BYC - Foiling Team, 8.5
Detail of the results HERE
Today's winners
Race 17: Luna Rossa Pirahna (ITA)
Race 18: Groupe Atlantic (FRA)
Race 19: Clean Sailors Racing Team (GER)
Race 20: Rum Runners (Antigua)
Race 21: Groupe Atlantic (FRA)
Race 22: Rum Runners (Antigua)
Race 23: DutchSail JAJO (NED)
Race 24: Groupe Atlantic (FRA)