Students do it again

Second consecutive victory for a study team in the Tour Voile

Second victory in a row for a student team! The young student team of HEC Gamelin Pour le Mecenat Chirurgie Cariaque, with New-Zealander skipper Ryan Parkin, won the offshore leg between Vannes and Les Sables d’Olonne - a surprise result after a windless night along the coasts of Vendée.

The German Swiss team Bienne Voile crossed the finish line in second position, when they thought they were last. And in the third position, the students of Alfa Laval are back on the podium again, after their victory into Vannes two days ago. Due to the lack of wind, the fleet was spread out in their arrivals. The Race Committee had to close the finish line two hours after the winner and as a result 14 boats finished after the time limit, including race favourite Bouygues Telecom. So the overall results , Toulon Provence Mediterraneee Coychyères is back in the lead, two points ahead.

“We are so happy," said Ryan Parkin onhis arrival in Les Sables d’Olonne. "We sailed in the middle of the fleet but when it was cool we separated from the fleet and go our own way again. We are glad we did it. We came out, we went right and it worked! I am the only non-French in the team and it is my first time on the Tour de France à la Voile. But I’ve been in France for three years, mainly on the multihulls with Steve Ravussin, so it’s not too hard to sail in French.”

The student team of HEC Gamelin Pour le Mecenat Chirurgie Cariaque crossed the finish line at 04.07am after 18 hours of racing. The second boat, Bienne Voile finished just two minutes later. “We couldn’t believe it, said Swiss skipper Christian Knoll. "We heard the gun and we thought they were closing the finish line. In the last few miles, we couldn’t see any boat around so we thought we were last. It was very tactical. We had to follow every wind shift. We are so happy - very tired, but happy”.

17 minutes after the winner, Alfa Laval crossed the finish line to take third place. “We sort of kept gybing around," said British navigator Mike Broughton. "I thought there was more wind offshore. I could see the boats on our right, ahead of us, getting smaller and smaller. And I said, 'yes, there’s more wind there - keep going right.' And it worked. It’s great! I just joined the guys today. It’s really good fun sailing with them. It’s a really cool bunch of people. And their food is good!”

At 06.07, the Race Committee had to close the finish line. Only 16 boats finished the race in time. Bouygues Telecom, leading the overall results prior to this leg, did not finish, while their main rival for the overall leadership Toulon Provence Mediterraneee Coychyères managed to come in in 12th position. Fabien Henry and his team are now taking the Red Spinnaker, meaning they are back to the lead in the overall ranking, two points ahead Pierre Loïc Berthet.

After a few hours of sleep, the 30 teams will leave the pontoon of Port Olona at 13.15 to take the start of two inshore races, off Les Sables d’Olonne, at 14.30.

Overall results:

Pos	Boat	Skipper	Tot
1	TOULON PROVENCE MEDITERRANEE COYCHyères	Fabien HENRY	623
2	BOUYGUES TELECOM	Pierre Loïc BERTHET	621
3	DIEPPE SEINE-MARITIME	Romain GIBON	567
4	ALPES-MARITIMES MANDELIEU THEOULE	Sylvain CHTOUNDER	550
5	VILLE DE GENEVE CARREFOUR PREVENTION	Julien DI BIASE	549
6	COURRIER DUNKERQUE	Gery TRENTESAUX	544
7	CSC - ESSEC	Hervé GAUTIER	534
8	DEFI PARTAGE MARSEILLE	Thierry BOUCHARD / Dimitri DERUELLE	523
9	ALFA LAVAL	Yoann RICHOMME	498
10	REGION ILE DE FRANCE	Jimmy PAHUN / Nicolas PAUCHET	496
11	ESPOIR ILE DE FRANCE	Jean-pierre NICOL / Victor LANIER	466
12	VILLE DU PORT BRED LA REUNION	Marc GUESSARD / Gabriel JEAN-ALBERT	457
13	BELVEDERE – EDC – EBSCO	Tanguy FOURNIER LE RAY	435
14	PORT DE COMMERCE LA ROCHELLE	Alexandre MERCIER	421
15	ESPOIRS AQUITAINS	J.P.ALLILIAIRE/X.CANTEGREL/P.DENTRAYGUES/J.FALXA	420
16	BIENNE – VOILE	R. HARTMANN / N. BERGER / C. KNOLL	419
17	PERPIGNAN MEDITERRANEE	Paul McKENZIE	405
18	COTES D'ARMOR	Michaël AVELINE	401
18	NANTES SAINT-NAZAIRE	Sebastien PETITHUGUENIN / Gaëtan AUNETTE	401
20	EMINENCE – MARSEILLE	Kiny PARADE	376
21	DEFI GRANDES ECOLES TOTAL INSA	Anne Claire LE BERRE	356
22	DEFI SCLEROSE EN PLAQUES	Stéphane VENEL	351
23	BREST GRANDES ECOLES ENSIETA ENST-BRETAGNE	Gwenaël Riou	343
24	AMEC SPIE	Eric BASSET	326
25	DEFI AMI – AVAYA - X - ENSAM	Olivier HONTANX	315
26	STAD GENT / VILLE DE GAND	Philippe BERGMANS / Bernard WILMET	307
27	VAN UDEN TUDELFT	Gert VAN DER HEIJDEN / Berend-Jan EDENS	299
28	EIGSI – CHARENTE MARITIME	Antoine ALBARET	288
29	T SERVICE INTERIM REGION DE BRUXELLES-CAPITALE	Laurent DECLERCQ / Jean-Marc FOBERT	286
30	HEC GAMELIN MECENAT CHIRURGIE CARDIAQUE	Ryan PARKIN	276