Down to the wire

Tension builds towards the conclusion of the Tour Voile

The Mediterranean is well known for blowing hard or not blowing at all and yesterday's leg from Gruissan to Marseille was particularly true to form. The fleet set out in 20 knots, with some light hazardous winds mid-course, and 40 to 45 knots at the finish - extreme conditions for the Mumm 30s and their crews.

Dieppe Seine Maritime was virtually unstoppable putting in with a faultless victory which began at Cap d’Agde. “Our success came from our very inshore position throughout the race," said crewman Romain Gibon. "We still had 10 knots while our friends had virtually nothing. We accentuated this position when we saw that things were not going well downwind so as not to fall into this zone. We were pretty frightened at the difficult passage of Bauduc, when the wind really dropped out, but we were able to stay out front in control. But what a finish!”

What a finish too for third placed Defi Partage Marseille. 100m from the line as they in the process of overtaking the second-placed boat Theoule Mandelieu, there was an
audible crack as the mast broke but fortunately it didn’t fall. "There was really too much pressure in the sails, in a 45 knot gust. There was too much compression in the tube and its foot dug down into the bilges broke at its base," recounted a concerned Thierry Bouchard, unsure as to whether they would find a replacement mast, even if he was very happy with his third place finish. Determination and motivation paid off though and the new mast was stepped at the last minute this morning.

There were more mixed reactions about the leg further back in the fleet too. Vincent Biarnes, skipper of Cotes D’Armor, revelled about peak speeds of 18 knots achieved under mainsail alone. "The boat became really hard to steer as under genoa we were digging the bow in. We decided to drop it just to have a few more peaceful miles under mainsail alone. We were lucky becauee then we saw see even more gusts! I wouldn’t have liked to have finished in the pitch black...like a lot of boats are going to behind us."

Bouygues Telecom were a little disappointed with their positioning during a difficult passage as the wind eased off near the Camargue, but were nevertheless content to have contained their direct opponents Groovederci.

Calmed and rested the 29 competitors today have taken part in a windward-leeward course off Marseille, this time in light winds.

In the lead throughout the regatta, Groovederci refused to let Defi Partage Marseille past just a few boat lengths from the finish. However, this aggressive manoeuvre left the playing field wide open for other boats to file towards the line without obstruction. Ville Du Port Bred La Reunion made the most of the opportunity to take leg victory ahead of Bouygues Telecom. Groovederci finished 5th and saw her lead melt to just four points overall. Defi Partage Marseille, nine points behind, is also still in the running for overall victory.

A little further back in the fleet, Region Ile de France, Toulon Provence Mediterranee Coych and Theoule Mandelieu were sailing beam to beam, all three taking 8 points.

The planned second race of the day was cancelled shortly after the start ironically due to a lack of wind. At this point where Bouygues Telecom was in a position where she would have taken over the overall lead.

Given the closeness of the frontrunners and the four remaining races (five is race 27 from this afternoon is rescheduled), the stakes in tomorrow’s 100 mile leg from Marseille to Ste Maxime will be very high.

This leg will see the boats negotiating the thermal breeze on the approach to every bay. Bays are particularly numerous along this stretch of the French coast including Cassis, La Ciotat, Bandol, the tip of the Ile des Embiez, the islands off Hyères leaving Porquerolles to starboard, Lardier, Taya and Camarat, and finally the turrets in the bay of St Tropez. The finalé in this ultimate leg promises to be a blinder.


Order at the finish of Race N°26 – windward leeward course

1 VILLE DU PORT BRED LA REUNION
2 BOUYGUES TELECOM
3 COTES D’ARMOR
4 DIEPPE SEINE MARITIME
5 GROOVEDERCI
6 PORT DE COMMERCE LA ROCHELLE ESTUDINES.COM
7 VILLE DE GENEVE CARREFOUR PREVENTION
8 DEFI PARTAGE – MARSEILLE
9 TEPACAP
10 DEFI SCLEROSE EN PLAQUES - LEONARD DE VINCI
11 ALFA LAVAL
12 REGION ILE DE France
13 THEOULE MANDELIEU
14 TOULON PROVENCE MEDITERRANEE COYCH
15 BELVEDERE - FORCE EDC & LES COPAINS A BORD
16 DELFT CHALLENGE TU DELFT
17 BIENNE-VOILE
18 DEFI GRANDES ECOLES TOTAL INSA
19 CSC – ESSEC
20 PERPIGNAN MEDITERRANEE
21 EIGSI LA ROCHELLE CHARENTE-MARITIME
22 ESPOIRS AQUITAINS
23 DEFI JEAN BART
24 T SERVICE INTERIM REGION DE BRUXELLES CAPITALE
25 NANTES SAINT NAZAIRE
26 DEFI DON DU SANG ALLIBERT HEC-ESC GRENOBLE-X
27 MARSEILLE UNIVERSITES VILLE DE BANDOL
28 PSA PEUGEOT CITROËN
29 DOUARNENEZ - VOILE MAGAZINE