To the Med

The 30 yachts in the Tour Voile head for St Cyprien for the final stage of the race

At dawn tomorrow the fleet of thirty Mumm 30s will leave the Atlantic coast bound for the Mediterranean port of St Cyprien - a change in climate, vegetation and colour… The team may also change, with new crew members or even whole crews taking to the boats.

This year the Tour de France à la Voile comprises a total of 21 inshore courses and nine offshore. At present there are still 43% of the points left to contend. Enough time for everything to change in terms of the results.

To date the American team on Groovederci has had an exceptional competition. Their objective for the first week was not to get too outpaced by the seasoned campaigners on the Tour Voile, more used to the long duration and rhythm of the race. The second week their strategy was to score points to strengthen a potential victory (they have a 27 point lead over second place at this stage). In St Cyprien on, they want to benefit from the four inshore courses to increase their lead and prepare for any slight dips in performance that may occur in the fickle winds of the Mediterranean.

Behind them, the crew on Defi Partage Marseille, who have just moved into second overall and those on Theoule Mandelieu, just half a point behind, have their sights set high, confident about the advantage of sailing in their home waters. This advantage has
already been proven by teams in previous legs. In the Mediterranean the racing is different and no less nerve wracking, depending more on small tactical coups and reading the breeze rather than reading the currents right.

Theoule Mandelieu will clearly be sailing offensively, desperate to regain their lead over the next few days. The scenario is the same for Bouygues Telecom. “We’re clearly in attack mode” said skipper Pierre-Loïc Berthet. "We have no additional pressure but we can’t make any errors either."

Overall results

1 GROOVEDERCI 710,5
2 DEFI PARTAGE MARSEILLE 683,5
3 THEOULE MANDELIEU 683
4 BOUYGUES TELECOM 665
5 REGION ILE DE France 655,5
6 TOULON PROVENCE MEDITERRANEE COYCH 637,5
7 VILLE DE GENEVE CARREFOUR PREVENTION 616,5
8 DIEPPE SEINE MARITIME 586,5
9 CSC ESSEC 544,5
10 COTES D'ARMOR 542
11 BELVEDERE FORCE EDC LES COPAINS A BORD 506,5
12 DEFI GRANDES ECOLES TOTAL INSA 486,5
13 VILLE DU PORT BRED ILE DE LA REUNION 472
14 PORT DE COMMERCE LA ROCHELLE ESTUDINES.COM 448,5
15 DEFI SCLEROSE EN PLAQUES 444,5
16 PERPIGNAN MEDITERRANEE 425,5
17 PSA PEUGEOT CITROEN 421,5
18 ESPOIRS AQUITAINS 412,5
19 BREST GRANDES ECOLES ENSIETA ENST BRETAGNE 411
20 DOUARNENEZ VOILE MAGAZINE 410
21 DEFI DON DU SANG ALLIBERT- HEC-ESC GRENOBLE-X 396,5
22 NANTES SAINT NAZAIRE 386
23 ALFA LAVAL 360
24 BIENNE VOILE 357
25 EIGSI CHARENTE MARITIME 315,5
26 TEPACAP 309,5
27 MARSEILLE UNIVERSITES VILLE DE BANDOL 291
28 DEFI JEAN BART 281,5
29 T Service Interim Région de Bruxelles Capitale 280
30 DELFT CHALLENGE 275,5