Weather goes light for Tour Voile

Frustrating conditions for final offshore leg from Marseille to Ste Maxime

For the start of the final offshore leg of the Tour de France à la Voile there was a change of tempo after the recent sprint legs. Today the depression that has dominated the weather for the last days has left the way clear for a zone of high pressure and the accompanying summery weather and light winds barely enough to move the Mumm 30s.

These light conditions made life tricky for the 100 mile leg from Marseille to St Maxime, tensioned raised with the race nearing its conclusion and this being a high scoring leg, with a x2 coefficient.

First to the Challenge AGF weather mark after the start was Port de Commerce La Rochelle Estudines.Com followed by Perpignan Mediterranee. In the light conditions it was then up to the crew to play the shifts to the best of their ability.

There was particular pressure on Bouygues Telecom, lying sixth as the boats left the bay of Marseille and 14 places ahead of the current overall leader, Groovederci.

This leg is also one of the hardest in terms of navigation. There will be the usual inshore group and offshore group, each watching the other closely to see who has made gains. Positions taken as the boats pass through the passage between the Porquerolles islands and the Giens peninsula will prove a good indicator of their progress.

The leading question at this time is how all this is playing on the mind of the American helmswoman on Groovederci, Deneen Demourkas, who will be fighting to keep her overall lead going into the final windward-leewards off Ste Maxime on Friday. Laurent Pagès’ experience and the talent of Dutch navigator Wouter Verbraak will all come to play as the crew tackle with the light conditions.

At 1500 GMT today the boats were tacking off the rocky inlets of Cassis in an 8 knot east south-easterly wind. The majority of the fleet had opted to pass within a mile of shore here. At this pace, the Porquerolles passage will be reached later tonight, and Ste Maxime … a lot later!

Overall results:
1 GROOVEDERCI 1055
2 BOUYGUES TELECOM 1051
3 DEFI PARTAGE MARSEILLE 1042
4 REGION ILE DE France 1013
5 TOULON PROVENCE MEDITERRANEE COYCH 1005
6 THEOULE MANDELIEU 1004,5
7 DIEPPE SEINE MARITIME 939,5
8 VILLE DE GENEVE CARREFOUR PREVENTION 917
9 COTES D'ARMOR 900
10 CSC ESSEC 854
11 VILLE DU PORT BRED ILE DE LA REUNION 828
12 DEFI GRANDES ECOLES TOTAL INSA 746,5
13 BELVEDERE FORCE EDC LES COPAINS A BORD 732,5
14 PORT DE COMMERCE LA ROCHELLE ESTUDINES.COM 713,5
15 ESPOIRS AQUITAINS 668
16 PERPIGNAN MEDITERRANEE 663
17 DEFI SCLEROSE EN PLAQUES 645
18 PSA PEUGEOT CITROEN 629,5
19 NANTES SAINT NAZAIRE 623
20 ALFA LAVAL 619,5
21 DEFI DON DU SANG ALLIBERT- HEC-ESC GRENOBLE-X 605
22 DOUARNENEZ VOILE MAGAZINE 571
23 TEPACAP 560,5
24 BREST GRANDES ECOLES ENSIETA ENST BRETAGNE 553,5
25 BIENNE VOILE 541,5
26 DELFT CHALLENGE 492
27 DEFI JEAN BART 483,5
28 EIGSI CHARENTE MARITIME 462,5
29 MARSEILLE UNIVERSITES VILLE DE BANDOL 450,5
30 T SERVICE INTERIM REGION DE BRUXELLES CAPITAL 425

Amateur results
1 DIEPPE SEINE MARITIME 483
2 VILLE DE GENEVE CARREFOUR PREVENTION 472
3 COTES D'ARMOR 471,5

Student results
1 DEFI GRANDES ECOLES TOTAL INSA 504,5
2 PORT DE COMMERCE LA ROCHELLE ESTUDINES.COM 484
3 DEFI SCLEROSE EN PLAQUES 455,5