Narrow lead at tri Grand Prix

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

The reaching leg which followed was extremely close. Le Cam's Bonduelle kept in close contact with Groupama, sailing aggressively on the right hand side of the course, while Belgacom attempted an interesting leg on the left : the turquoise boat passed Groupama at the leeward gate. Bonduelle rounded the buoy on the right while Belgacom opted for fresh wind to the left. Groupama chose to stay away from her direct opponent and followed Bonduelle,while Foncia, in fourth, was left behind, along with Banque Populaire and Filawith Baygon last again.

Thanks to a small shift to the right anticipated by Bruno Jourdren and Jean Le Cam, Bonduelle was able strengthen their lead and rounded the second windward mark 1’15" ahead of Belgacom, in second. A messed up manoeuvre to hoist the gennaker later, allows Groupama to overtake Belgacom and take over the second position.

No further changes occur between then and the finishing line.

Fila just manages to win the fifth position ahead of Banque Populaire, while Baygon, handicapped by her poor start and her penalty (a 360° turn) finishes last.

Overall standings after 5 races (second day)
1 - Alain Gautier - Foncia - 2 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 4 = 10 pts
2 - Franck Cammas Goupama - 4 + 2 + 3 + 1 +2 = 12 pts
3 - jean Luc Nélias - Belgacom - 3 + 5 + 2 + 5 + 3 = 18 pts
4 - Lalou Roucayrol - Banque Populaire - 5 + 3 + 5 +3 +6 = 22 pts
5 - Jean Le Cam - Bonduelle - 9 + 9 + 4 + 4 +1 + 27 pts
6 - Giovanni Soldini - Fila- 6 + 4 + 6 + 6 + 5 + 27 pts
7 - Yvan Bourgnon - Baygon - 7 + 6 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 34 pts
8 - Loïck Peyron - Fujifilm - 1 + 9 + 9 +9 + 9 = 37 pts