Student success

In Tour Voile leg from St Cyprien to Gruissan

The joy of the young student crew on Port de Commerce La Rochelle Estudines.Com skippered by Pierre-François Lepoutre was unrivalled at the end of the 30 mile leg from St Cyprien to Gruissan, a course they led from beginning to end.

“It’s incredible, we won the same leg last year by doing the same thing! We really wanted to stay inshore and avoid the considerable current on the nose and it paid off. It’s great to sail ahead of the fleet. They explain things to us the whole year so it’s doubly good when we apply the theory and get in front !” expounds Lepoutre, waving a bottle of champagne. The team are now just nine points behind leader of the student ranking Defi Grandes Ecoles Total Insa.

CSC Essec also held onto a great position up front and behind the leading duo trailed all the big names of the tour, Defi Partage Marseille, Dieppe Seine Maritime, Region Ile de France, Bouygues Telecom, Theoule Mandelieu...with Groovederci right down the rankings in 17th.

As a result of this upset in the ranking Defi Partage Marseille has slipped four points ahead of Bouygues Telecom in the overall results thanks to a third place despite a poor start. The former is now just 21 points from the American leader.

The skipper of Marseille Dimitri Deruelle was particularly satisfied with the leg after benefitting from the easy sailing conditions, but was more worried about the strong wind forecast for the next leg. “We feel much more comfortable in these light conditions and did well to make the most of them and reposition ourselves in the rankings. The next hurdle is going to be to assure the follow-up. I think there is going to be some marking in the next legs, as we have already seen some signs of that.”

Tactically speaking the shift in the rankings was decided in the inshore and offshore option. Inshore clearly brought the most rewards, protected by a nasty counter current and able to sail on a closer point of sail in the expected lift. “Those who came back into the match from a long way off used this lift, and we were one of those”, said Erwan Vanier with relief, a member of the crew of Dieppe Seine Maritime who experienced the same rewarding scenario as Defi Partage Marseille who finished fourth.

Just ten coefficients and the winner will be known, a thought which will will fuel the spirits and the temperatures on the Mumm 30 fleet. Tomorrow two courses are planned off Gruissan, each with a coefficient 1. Departure of the boats is around 0945GMT and the start of the first leg will be given at 1030 GMT. The westerly wind has come in on the race village, strengthening from the northwest tomorrow.

Results - Race 22 Saint Cyprien/Gruissan

1 PORT DE COMMERCE LA ROCHELLE ESTUDINES.COM 60
2 CSC ESSEC 55,5
3 DEFI PARTAGE MARSEILLE 52,5
4 DIEPPE SEINE MARITIME 51
5 REGION ILE DE France 49,5
6 BOUYGUES TELECOM 48
7 THEOULE MANDELIEU 46,5
8 VILLE DU PORT BRED ILE DE LA REUNION 45
9 TOULON PROVENCE MEDITERRANEE COYCH 43,5
10 TEPACAP 42
11 ALFA LAVAL 40,5
12 COTES D'ARMOR 39
13 DEFI DON DU SANG ALLIBERT- HEC-ESC GRENOBLE-X 37,5
14 PSA PEUGEOT CITROEN 36
15 VILLE DE GENEVE CARREFOUR PREVENTION 34,5
16 DEFI GRANDES ECOLES TOTAL INSA 33
17 GROOVEDERCI 31,5
18 EIGSI CHARENTE MARITIME 30
19 BIENNE VOILE 28,5
20 NANTES SAINT NAZAIRE 27
21 PERPIGNAN MEDITERRANEE 25,5
22 T SERVICE INTERIM REGION DE BRUXELLES CAPITAL 24
23 MARSEILLE UNIVERSITES VILLE DE BANDOL 22,5
24 DEFI JEAN BART 21
25 DEFI SCLEROSE EN PLAQUES 19,5
26 BELVEDERE FORCE EDC LES COPAINS A BORD 18
27 DELFT CHALLENGE 16,5
28 DOUARNENEZ VOILE MAGAZINE 15
29 ESPOIRS AQUITAINS 13,5
BREST GRANDES ECOLES ENSIETA ENST BRETAGNE 7,5 DNS

Overall results after Race 22 (one discard)
1 GROOVEDERCI 905
2 DEFI PARTAGE MARSEILLE 884
3 BOUYGUES TELECOM 881
4 REGION ILE DE France 869
5 TOULON PROVENCE MEDITERRANEE COYCH 853
6 THEOULE MANDELIEU 850,5
7 VILLE DE GENEVE CARREFOUR PREVENTION 781
8 DIEPPE SEINE MARITIME 766,5
9 COTES D'ARMOR 747
10 CSC ESSEC 745
11 VILLE DU PORT BRED ILE DE LA REUNION 658
12 BELVEDERE FORCE EDC LES COPAINS A BORD 624,5
13 DEFI GRANDES ECOLES TOTAL INSA 622,5
14 PORT DE COMMERCE LA ROCHELLE ESTUDINES.COM 606,5
15 PERPIGNAN MEDITERRANEE 564
16 DEFI SCLEROSE EN PLAQUES 547
17 PSA PEUGEOT CITROEN 539,5
18 DEFI DON DU SANG ALLIBERT- HEC-ESC GRENOBLE-X 535
19 ESPOIRS AQUITAINS 529
20 BREST GRANDES ECOLES ENSIETA ENST BRETAGNE 528,5
21 NANTES SAINT NAZAIRE 516
22 ALFA LAVAL 504,5
23 DOUARNENEZ VOILE MAGAZINE 502
24 BIENNE VOILE 471,5
25 TEPACAP 470,5
26 DEFI JEAN BART 398,5
27 DELFT CHALLENGE 393
28 MARSEILLE UNIVERSITES VILLE DE BANDOL 389,5
29 T SERVICE INTERIM REGION DE BRUXELLES CAPITAL 378
30 EIGSI CHARENTE MARITIME 375,5

Amateur class - top three

1 CSC ESSEC 404,5
2 VILLE DE GENEVE CARREFOUR PREVENTION 403
3 DIEPPE SEINE MARITIME 394

Student class - top three

1 DEFI GRANDES ECOLES TOTAL INSA 417,5
2 PORT DE COMMERCE LA ROCHELLE ESTUDINES.COM 408
3 DEFI SCLEROSE EN PLAQUES 388,5

Ranking Challenge AGF
1 GROOVEDERCI 1020
2 DEFI PARTAGE 1000
3 REGION ILE DE France 970