Narrow lead at tri Grand Prix

Gautier and MacArthur fight it out with Franck Cammas at the Fecamp 60ft trimaran Grand Prix

Alain Gautier and Ellen MacArthur on board Foncia-Kingfisher hold a narrow lead of just two points in the Port de Fécamp Grand Prix at the end of the second day of the fourth event in the 9 TELECOM ORMA Championship. With a win in the inshore race and two second place finishes, Franck Cammas' Groupama is more and more threatening.

After his collision with Giovanni Soldini's Fila yesterday Jean le Cam and Bonduelle made a healthy return by winning the day's third race. This victory for Bonduelle shows that yesterday's damage is past history, although any hopes of a good overall finish have vanished. But this come back will bother Gautier and Cammas and could contribute to widening the gap between the two boats - in one way or the other.

Behind, the fight is close between Jean-Luc Nélias' Belgacom, whose new trimaran is shortly to be launched and Banque Populaire. Despite being the oldest boat on the circuit, the current Belgacom is capable of good speeds while Lalou Roucayrol, on Banque Populaire, seems more and more at ease on his new blue and red multihull. Behind them Giovanni Solidini on Fila and Yvan Bourgnon on Baygon share the same number of points.

Race 3 : Gautier on the finish line
It had been a while since we had witnessed such a finish, with an intense fight between Bonduelle and Groupama on one hand and Belgacom and Foncia on the other. In light winds, tactics were decisive in the third race of the Grand Prix and not one of the boats gave up the fight. The leadership often changed between Groupama, Bonduelle and Foncia. Belgacom, fourth for a long time, gained two positions in two tacks, after chosing to take the opposite option of the leading trio.

Jean-Luc Nélias closed the gap with the leaders, and threatened Alain Gautier, while Bonduelle and Groupama were fighting a match-race near the cliffs. In the end, Belgacom and Foncia's option turned out to be the best, and the finish was very tight between the four competitors, with Alain Gautier's Foncia winning ahead of Jean-Luc Nélias' Belgacom, Franck Cammas in Groupama and Jean Le Cam on Bonduelle.

Race 4 (inshore race) : perfect race by Cammas
With a clear blue sky and a light wind of 8 to 10 knots, the inshore race took the fleet from Fécamp to Yport and then towards an offshore buoy. It was a perfect race for Franck Cammas and his crew : Groupama led the fleet from beginning to end and was never really threatened by her direct opponent Foncia, who finished second in front of Banque Populaire.

Race 5 : victory for Jean Le Cam

Good upbeat capacity, good speed and most of all nice tactical options - Jean Le Cam, Bruno Jourdren and their crew won the last race of the day. Behind, Groupama and Belgacom fought during the whole race to finish respectively second and third.

A few minutes before the start, all the boats were stacked on the left third of the line - All but Baygon, who arrived at the line fast on starboard tack, but too fast. Near the end of the line, she was forced to bear away on Fila, infringing the Italians. She ended up with a penalty. Belgacom started windward of the fleet, as Bonduelle cut the line in the middle, to leeward to the competition.

Jean Le Cam rounded the windward mark first, followed by Franck Cammas, Jean-Luc Nélias and Alain Gautier. The first beat did not work out well for Lalou Roucayrol because of a small tack to the right hand side of the course left him fifth in front of Giovani Soldini and Yvan Bourgnon.

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