Elite Ecole Navale crowned 2023 French J/70 National Champions

2023 French J/70 National Championship © Pierrick Contin

As part of the Grand Prix de l'Ecole Navale Regatta, the French J/70 class held their 2023 National Championship. The class continues to gain traction and has gained a number of the top J/80 sailing teams in France.

The level of competition is extremely high, even in a fleet of just over a dozen boats. It's self-evident that top-quality teams with strong local competition can do well, as witnessed by the stunning victory of Swiss J/70 teams at the recent J/70 World Championship in Monte Carlo, Monaco- the Swiss won both the Open and the Corinthians division!

As explained by Christian Ponthieu, tactician for Pierre Laouenan's ELITE ECOLE NAVALE Team, "There are fewer boats than in the J/80 class right now. But, there are four or five crews that are well ahead of the competition even at the European level. We won the Spi Ouest France Regatta. Now, others are suspicious of us, LOL! We are more watched than before! The J/70 is lighter than the J/80, so you have to be a little more reactive and the boat has multiple modes of sailing downwind, which makes the J/70 a lot of fun and very challenging!"

In a final epic battle on the last day, the two protagonists for the French J/70 National Champion came down to the two most experienced J/70 teams- Laouenan's ELITE ECOLE NAVALE and Damian Michelier's SAGE ENGINEERS.

Starting off with two bullets on the final day, SAGE ENGINEERS looked like they might have had the upper hand going into the last two races. Meanwhile, Laouenan's team posted a 2-3 to drop into a tie after nine races. The "tale of the tape" in the last two races determined the outcome. ELITE ECOLE NAVALE won the last two races with SAGE ENGINEERS taking two deuces. Consequently, the French Navy academy sailing team of ELITE ECOLE NAVALE won- Laouenan and his team of Paul Medinger, Jean Queveau, Pierre Loic Berthet, and Christian Ponthieu. Second was Michelier's SAGE ENGINEERS crew of Clement Galliache, Charlie Guth, Alois de Guitaut, and Jean Yves Martin. Third went to Timothe Rossi's JEUNES MADE IN SUD crew of Thibault Demai, Jeremy Moutout, and Yann LeCorre. Rounding out the top five was Herve Leduc's JIBE SET in fourth and Nicolas Rostand's LE TIB in fifth position.

Pierre Laouenan commented on his team's participation, "We wanted to challenge ourselves, to put ourselves in a difficult position and continue to learn things. We had a good battle against Michelier's experienced team. We had a two-point lead this morning, which means nothing. Then, our top competitor won the first two races of the day. So we had to motivate ourselves, we had no choice! So, we pressed hard in the last two races. Thankfully, we won both of them!"

More French J/70 sailing information here.