Racing canned

But Groovederci penalised due to spinnaker change

Racing was canned today in the Tour de France à la Voile due to excess wind. After the two courses held off Gruissan yesterday in 30 knot gusts, the Mumm 30 fleet were geared up for a potentially record breaking sail towards Marseille under spinnaker off
the Camargue region. But good sense has prevailed.

Allowing a fleet of Mumm 30s to set off on a 100 mile dash with a special weather warning in force did not appeal to the Race Committee. In an attempt to avoid sailing in the dark, Race Director Sylvie Viant took the decision to postponed the start until 0900 hours tomorrow.

Whether this will goes ahead remains to be seen as there is no let up forecast in the Golfe du Lyon. At 0545 hours tomorrow morning, another briefing is planned where the next plan of action will be announced.

“We want to try and stay within our allotted time spaces for the next legs which is another reason why we don’t want to send the racers into war,” explained Race Director, Manfred Ramspacher. “The Mumm 30s are very solid boats, but two boats have already dismasted and one has lost its bulb, and you have to consider all the different levels in the fleets. In any case, safety takes precedence in our decisions.”

As regards the ranking, the scoop of the day 10 penalty points going to the leading boat Groovederci. On the first leg yesterday, their spinnaker blew out and the Race Committee allowed them to sail with a replacement that was loaded on board just in time for the second start. However, with the original spinnaker irrepairable, they will have to continue with this new spinnaker and this gear change has cost them 10 points in line with the Sailing Instructions.

This penalty means that Bouygues Telecom is now just 12 points off the lead. 12 points could be made up in the windward leeward courses, of which there remain 8 with a coefficient of one! Defi Partage Marseille is also on the hunt for gold, just 10 points behind Bouygues Telecom.