Third win a row

Thierry Bouchard and Dimitri Deruelle's Defi Partage-Marseille shine in the Med in the Tour Voile

The crew of Defi Partage-Marseille seems to be excelling in the Mediterranean. This afternoon in Sète, they crossed the finish line of the Olympic course to score their third victory in a row. In the overall results, they have taken third place off Dieppe Seine-Maritime.

Today the boats were racing in the Tramontane wind. When the Mumm 30s left the pontoons at lunch time, the wind was blowing onshore (SSW) between 10 and 15 knots. After a general recall, the race got underway successfully at the first buoy, with Defi Partage-Marseille leading the fleet.

“Everything was about the speed, said the skipper Thierry Bouchard. "We just had to keep control over the other boats. This third victory is giving us a lot more confidence for the next races”. But for now, this row of bullets has earned them a place on the podium overall. The team from Marseille helped by a poor result from Dieppe Seine Maritime which finished 20th today.

Nantes Saint-Nazaire was the big surprise of the day, with a second position at the finish, their first podium since the start of the Tour de France à la Voile, three weeks ago. “We didn’t take a good start," said skipper Gaëtan Aulnette, "but we took an option to the left of the fleet and it paid off. We changed a part of the crew for the Mediterranean and we are very happy with it!” Region Ile de France was third.

After three good results in the top 10, Ville du Port Bred la Reunion seems to be contining to improve. “We finished fourth today," said a crewman. "We took a good tactical option. We changed the team for the Med. Everybody knows each other, the atmosphere is very good and I think we can keep performing well until the end”.

If that’s the case, the team for the Reunion Island could disrupt the dual between Espoir Ile de France and CSC ESSEC in the Amateur Results. Tonight, Ville du Port Bred la Reunion is only 3 points behind Hervé Gautier's, and 15.5 points from the leaders.

At 21.00 local time tonight, the Mumm 30s will head out again for the longest Mediterranean offshore race, 115 miles between Sète and Hyères.

Overall results:

Pos	Boat	Skipper	Tot
1	TOULON PROVENCE MEDITERRANEE COYCHyères	Fabien HENRY	912
2	BOUYGUES TELECOM	Pierre Loïc BERTHET	850
3	DEFI PARTAGE MARSEILLE	Thierry BOUCHARD / Dimitri DERUELLE	826
4	DIEPPE SEINE-MARITIME	Romain GIBON	817
5	ALPES-MARITIMES MANDELIEU THEOULE	Sylvain CHTOUNDER	792
6	VILLE DE GENEVE CARREFOUR PREVENTION	Julien DI BIASE/Denis GIRARDET/Bastien CLEMENT	783
7	COURRIER DUNKERQUE	Gery TRENTESAUX	782
8	REGION ILE DE FRANCE	Jimmy PAHUN / Nicolas PAUCHET	780
9	ESPOIR ILE DE FRANCE	Jean-Pierre NICOL / Victor LANIER	756
10	CSC - ESSEC	Hervé GAUTIER	716
11	VILLE DU PORT BRED LA REUNION	Marc GUESSARD / Gabriel JEAN-ALBERT	697
12	ALFA LAVAL	Yoann RICHOMME	675
13	PORT DE COMMERCE LA ROCHELLE	Alexandre MERCIER	640
14	BELVEDERE – EDC – EBSCO	Tanguy FOURNIER LE RAY	634
15	PERPIGNAN MEDITERRANEE	Paul McKENZIE	633
16	NANTES SAINT-NAZAIRE	Sebastien PETITHUGUENIN / Gaëtan AULNETTE	628
17	BIENNE VOILE	R. HARTMANN / N. BERGER / C. KNOLL	620
18	DEFI SCLEROSE EN PLAQUES	Stéphane VENEL	580
19	COTES D'ARMOR	Michaël AVELINE	576
20	ESPOIRS AQUITAINS	J.P.ALLILIAIRE/X.CANTEGREL/J.FALXA	560
21	DEFI GRANDES ECOLES TOTAL INSA	Anne Claire LE BERRE	532
22	EMINENCE – MARSEILLE	Kiny PARADE	517
23	BREST GRANDES ECOLES ENSIETA ENST-BRETAGNE	Gildas MAHE	508
24	VAN UDEN TUDELFT	Gert VAN DER HEIJDEN	507
25	DEFI AMI – AVAYA - X - ENSAM	Olivier HONTANX	486
26	STAD GENT / VILLE DE GAND	Philippe BERGMANS / Bernard WILMET	487
27	AMEC SPIE	Eric BASSET	445
28	T SERVICE INTERIM REGION DE BRUXELLES-CAPITALE	Laurent DECLERCQ / Jean-Marc FOBERT	443
29	EIGSI – CHARENTE MARITIME	Antoine ALBARET	418
30	HEC GAMELIN MECENAT CHIRURGIE CARDIAQUE	Ryan PARKIN	393