Tris head for Fecamps

Fifth ORMA Grand Prix this year starts on Friday

Six 60ft trimarans and the creme de la creme of French sailing talent will be lining up this weekend (9-11 September) for the 10th Grand Prix du Port de Fécamp, the fourth round the cans regatta this season.

A depression to the west of Ireland on Friday is likely to bring brisk conditions for the Grand Prix, where Pascal Bidegorry at the helm of Banque Populaire will be attempting to fend off his lead of the ORMA Championship. However the obvious threat will be from Franck Cammas' Groupama II, which so far this season has won all four Grand Prix, dropping just two races, and would be clear leader in the championship were it not for their withdrawal from the IB Group Challenge, the opening event this season. The outcome of the championship will not be known until the conclusion of the Transat Jacques Vabre in November.

Thierry Duprey, skipper of Gitana X will be attempting to keep his boat upright after her dramatic pitchpole on the opening day last year (to see the scary image - click here).

Five trimarans already arrived in Fécamp last weekend, while Foncia is due to join them this afternoon.

Crew wise - the full lists are published below - but Alain Gautier is back on board his Foncia trimaran, replacing Damian Foxall who has joined the Brazilian Volvo Ocean Race team. Meanwhile on Gitana II, Franck Citeau replaces sail maker Jean-Baptiste Le Vaillant, now sailing on Banque Populaire, while Eric Péron and Arnaud de Boringer have now joined Duprey's Gitana X team.


Crew line-up

Groupama-2
Franck Cammas (skipper-barreur)
Pierre Pennec (tacticien)
Franck Proffit (navigateur)
Thierry Fouchier (régleur)
Bruno Jeanjean (régleur)
Philippe Touët (régleur)
Stéphane Guilbaud (wincheur)
Eric Coulon (wincheur)
Ewen Le Clech (piano)
Nicolas Pichelin (n°1)

Géant
Michel Desjoyeaux (skipper)
Hugues Destremau (tacticien)
Jean-Luc Nélias (régleur)
Xavier Revil (régleur)
Jean-Philippe Saliou (régleur)
Emmanuel Le Borgne (régleur)
Christophe Espagnon (régleur GV)
Jean-Paul Levrel (wincheur)
Eric Carret (wincheur)
Renaud Banyuls (n°1)

Gitana 11
Frédéric Le Peutrec (skipper)
Yann Guichard (tacticien)
Benjamin de Rothschild (performer-navigateur)
Franck Citeau (régleur)
Daniel Souben (régleur)
Jean-Baptiste Epron (régleur GV)
Alexandre Quiblier (wincheur)
Loïc Le Mignon (wincheur)
Antoine Mermod (piano)
François Denis (n°2)
Christophe Lassègue (n°1)

Banque Populaire
Pascal Bidegorry (skipper-barreur)
Mathieu Richard (tacticien)
Charles Caudrelier (navigateur)
Jacques di Russo (régleur)
Yvan Ravussin (régleur)
Jean-Baptiste Levaillant (régleur)
Lionel Lemonchois (régleur)
Florent Chastel (wincheur)
Aziz Essadek (wincheur)
Bruno Laurent (piano)
Ronan Lucas (n°1)

Gitana X
Thierry Duprey du Vorsent (skipper-barreur)
Erwan Le Roux (tacticien)
Mayeul Riffet (piano-navigateur)
Jochen Krauth (régleur)
Mathieu Tatibouët (régleur GV)
Yann Le Govic (régleur GV)
Eric Péron (régleur)
Arnaud de Boringer (wincheur)
Xavier Dagault (wincheur)
Antoine Carpentier (n°2)
Léopold Lucet (n°1)

Foncia
Armel Le Cléac’h (skipper)
Gildas Philippe (tacticien)
Nicolas Troussel (navigateur)
Thierry Briend (régleur)
Alain Gautier (régleur GV)
Frédéric Brousse (wincheur)
Fabrice Blondel (wincheur)
Ronan Le Goff (piano)
Thierry Chabagny (n°2)
Gilles André (n°1)

Overall ORMA championship points after the IB Group Challenge (x3), Grand Prix de Corse (x1), la Giraglia Rolex Cup (x0.5), Grand Prix de Marseille Métropole (x1) and le Grand Prix de Galice (x1) :
1-Pascal Bidegorry (Banque Populaire) 11 points (0+3+2+4+2)
2-Michel Desjoyeaux (Géant) 17,5 points (6+4+1,5+3+3)
3-Frédéric Le Peutrec (Gitana 11) 20,5 points (9+2+3,5+2+4)
4-Franck Cammas (Groupama-2) 21 points (21+0+0+0+0)
5-Armel Le Cléac’h (Foncia) 30 points (12+7+1+5+5)
6-Thierry Duprey du Vorsent (Gitana X) 35,5 points (15+5+2,5+7+6)
7-Giovanni Soldini (TIM-Progetto Italia) 83 points (51+6+3+6+17)
8ex-Thomas Coville (Sodebo) 113 points (51+18+9+18+17)
8ex-Yvan Bourgnon (Brossard) 113 points (51+18+9+18+17)