Desjoyeaux - invincible

A day of catamaran spectacle in the Clairefontaine Trophy in La Trinite-sur-Mer

Whether there is a breeze or not, whether the wind is shifty or stable, it is almost always the same dark blue spinnaker that bolts ahead in the sailing stadium of La Trinité-sur-Mer: that of Michel Desjoyeaux, whose sailing today made him the force to be reckoned with on this the first day of the 15th Trophée Clairefontaine.

The day began with a short race starting and finishing at the far end of La-Trinité-sur-Mer harbour. Solitaire du Figaro winner, Charles Caudrelier, the youngest among this group of champions, lead at the outset with the American Tornado silver medallist John Lovell leading the pack. Making his attack midway, Caudrelier held on to the lead and not even Loïck Peyron, who tried to keep inside him, escorted by a dolphin that played with his bows in full fairway was able to get ahead. In the end Michel Desjoyeaux finished second.

In the second race, where the boats headed out towards Ile de Houat in Quiberon Bay, the French Olympic duo led by Olivier Backes had a magnificent start and left the harbour in the lead, followed closely, once again, by Michel Desjoyeaux. The long smooth sail in a force 3 wind out to the off-lying island did not change the positions with Backes and Desjoyeaux ahead of John Lovell and Loïck Peyron, the race finishing in this order.

The third race established the ranking of the Quo Vadis Challenge (sum of results obtained in the legs in the Quiberon Bay). This saw the eight champions heading back towards La Trinité-sur-Mer in a lighter shifting breeze. This was more tactical in choosing the correct side of course to pick up the sea breeze which was slowly building. Olivier Backes bet on the right and Loïck Peyron gambled on the left, the former proving the correct choice.

Meanwhile Michel Desjoyeaux and Charles Caudrelier were challenging Backes out on the right side of the course. Caught in a sandwich, Backes stood his ground valiantly and the three catamarans accelerated upwind on one hull enveloped in spray. However after the boats had tacked back into the middle of the course towards the finish line Michel Desjoyeaux somehow was able to pull out four boat lengths on his colleagues to win ahead of Caudrelier and Backes, thus also winning the Quo Vadis Challenge, again ahead of Caudrelier and Backes.

This evening another course took place in the confines of the harbour for the benefit of the amassed spectators who witnessed a fantastic battle between John Lovell, Charly Ogletree and Mitch Booth and Karine Fauconnier's team which culminated in a capsize to the gasps of the spectators. Michel Desjoyeaux then took over the lead which he did not relinquish.

The last five legs of the Trophée Clairefontaine 2004 will start tomorrow at precisely 14:15 in the sailing stadium of La Trinité-sur-Mer, before the general public.

Provisional results after four legs:

1 Michel Desjoyeaux, 36pts
2 Charles Caudrelier, 28 pts
3 Olivier Backes, 22 pts
4 Loïck Peyron, 20 pts
5 Franck Cammas, 17 pts
6 John Lovell (E-U), 15 pts
7 Karine Fauconnier, 9 pts
8 Francis Joyon, 8 pts.

More photos on the following pages...