French dominate match racing

Top six go through to second round robin

The first round robin of the Marseilles International Match Race ended today in very strong weather conditions: cold, drizzle, and a 25-30knot southeast wind with gusts of up to 40 knots. The race committee had to forbid the usage of spinnakers after a few matches because of the wind strength.

Once the first round robin was over, the race committee decided upon the skippers’ requests not to continue racing. The fast J/80 boats were difficult to control in the conditions, increasing the risk of collision between competitors. As a result the first six are qualified for the second round robin.

Remarkably in the top six are four French competitors. Karol Jablonski, former match racing world champion after a poor day yesterday made a good come back today and ended up third. Kelvin Harrap, the New Zealand competitor who replaced Allan Coutts a few days before the start of the contest, also qualified to go through to the second round Robin. Unfortunately Britain's Ian Williams did not.

Results

1	Pillot
2	Pacé
3	Jablonski
4	Harrap
5	Richard
6	Deruelle
7	Williams
8	Hansen
9	Rahm
10	Nordbjerd