Danes dominate in Dragons

A report from the final round of Dragon racing at the Grand Prix Petit Navire

Leaving the pontoons this morning there was still all to play for in the last Dragon racing of Grand Prix Petit Navire.

Henri Bacchini, head of the race committee, was very impressed. “The standard is incredible," he said. "It is very interesting. After six races and going into the last round, 15 Dragons could still lay claim to victory. As it is a long distance race, lasting more than two hours, it is more strategic than tactical unlike the 40 to 50 minutes Olympic circuits. That is when you can judge the quality of the racing yachtsmen. They are all really clever and they sail clean. There are some really good racers and it is truly beautiful to watch.” However saying this the race was started under a Black Flag and there were a lot of disqualifications.

Conditions were the same as yesterday with a short swell and no more than 10 knots of WNW wind. “The apotheosis” as Yann Kersalé described it over breakfast. “A little bit cold, a little bit wet and hardly any wind.” But he was still happy to board his black “Dirastarc'h” (“Torn” in Breton).

Everybody seemed to be exhausted whether it was Xavier Rohart, Bruno Peyron or Sébastien Audigane, who said : “it is more tiring than 24 hours aboard Orange II in the middle of the Pacific.” As for Bruno Peyron he was still surprised by the concentration and the attention required to race a Dragon : “you are sailing at five knots but you are so tense and concentrated that you end up worn out. It is like a gas factory, intricate with adjustments needing millimetre precision. I am exhausted, but I will come back - I loved it.”

Another Dragon sailor will also probably come back next year, as luck seems to be with him. Mikhail Apukhtin, Russian skipper of the Godfather (Rus 1) won the BMW at the lottery last night. Last year Apukhtin also won the lottery prize which was a Dragon. “I love Douarnenez, I love the Grand Prix Petit Navire,” he said when Michel Gilet, director of Ouest Automobile in Brest, handed over the keys of his brand new car.

Today's race finished around 13h30 and didn't bring any changes to the main ranking of the Grand Prix Petit Navire for the Dragon class with the Dane Jorgen Schonherr, aboard African Queen, staying in the lead.

Grand Prix Petit Navire Dragon (before protests)
Round 7
1 Rigmarole (John ROSS-MURPHY - Ireland)
2 Chrisco (Dieter SCHON - Germany)
3 Red October (Georgy SAYDUKO - Russia)

Main ranking of the Grand Prix Petit Navire Dragon after 7 rounds, 6 of them being kept (before protests)
1 African Queen (Jorgen SCHONHERR – Denmark)
2 Danish Blue (Poul-Richard HOJ-JENSEN – Denmark)
3 Hanseatic Lloyd (Vincent HOESCH – Switzerland)