Back to the battle field

ORMA 60s line up for first time since the Quebec-St Malo at Fecamps tomorrow

Following the Quebec-St Malo, the ORMA 60ft multihull fleet gets racing again tomorrow with the annual Fecamps Grand Prix. Traditionally one of the windiest in the series 11 boats will be racing along the white cliffs of northern France from tomorrow through until Sunday.

Yves Parlier's radical catamaran Mediatis Region Aquitaine will once again be taking part. The boat is not designed for Grand Prix but Parlier says the boat is still at an early stage of its evolution.

This time round Parlier's machine is likely to be upstaged by the first competitive outing of Franck Cammas' new Groupama. Cammas' old Groupama was hardly slow winning all of the regattas and offshore races bar one last year and winning the first Grand Prix of the season in La Trinite earlier this year. However this season many believe Karine Fauconnier's Sergio Tacchini to be the faster boat.

So how will the new boat perform? Cammas will have benefitted from hanging on his old boat, allowing him to carry out some two boat testing, but 60ft trimarans are notoriously difficult boats to get the best out of and often even the most talented individuals have taken at least a year to get their new boat up to speed. (To see photos of the new Groupama - click here, to read more about the design innovation that has gone into this boat - click here.)

Thedailysail is supposed to be racing on board Groupama on Sunday at Fecamps and we will report back...

Tomorrow should be lively if the boats make it out as the wind is forecast to be gusting up to Force 7.

The line up for the Fecamps Grand Prix is as follows:

Geant / Michel Desjoyeaux
Groupama / Franck Cammas
Sergio Tacchini / Karine Fauconnier
Sodebo / Thomas Coville
Foncia / Alain Gautier
Banque Populaire / Lalou Roucayrol
Sopra Group / Philippe Monnet
Banque Covefi / Steve Ravussin
Gitana II / Frederic Le Peutrec
Gitana X / Marc Guillemot
Mediatis Region Aquitaine / Yves Parlier