23 minutes of separation

Franck Cammas claims victory (just) in 2,075 mile MultiCup race

After 2,075 miles of match racing aruond the coast of Europe with Pascal Bidegorry on Banque Populaire, it was race favourite Franck Cammas and his five crew on Groupama II who were first to bring their trimaran across the finishing line of the Londres-Alpes Maritimes. While Groupama has cleaned up in Grand Prix since her launch in June 2004 this is her first victory in an offshore race.

The three green hulls of Groupama II appeared in the Baie des Anges this afternoon in a 8-12 knot ESE breeze, crossing the finish line at 14:12:04 today, after just 6 days 21 hours and 3 minutes and 4 seconds at sea to cover the passage down from London, at an average speed of 12.67 knots. And this was despite encountering a wide range of weather conditions in the Thames, North Sea, English Channel, Bay of Biscay, Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Light air and moderate breeze, often upwind alternated throughout the race, boats sometimes being slowed to a halt.

But the main feature of this first ocean race marking the advent of the new Multi Cup Café Ambassador Championship has been the prolonged match race between the dominant Groupama 2 and Bidegorry's Banque Populaire IV who throughout the race remained no more than ten or so miles apart.



In the end having swapped the lead many times, Cammas with his crew of Franck Proffit, Jean-Baptiste Levaillant, Lionel Lemonchois, Jacques Caraës and Bruno Laurent arrived just 23 minutes ahead of Banque Populaire."It was a beautiful but tense race," said Cammas on his arrival. "Nerve wracking too. Over the course of this last week Pascal Bidégorry and his team were frightening adversaries. They did not let up at all. I hope that we stressed them out as much as they stressed us… This duel was as demanding, as it was enriching. The slightest mistake and you lose. It was a good fight even though the average age on board Groupama 2 has increased , I was surrounded very well by a very good crew. We all are very content. ”

Cammas sees this victory as pay back for last year's initial offshore race, the IB Group
Challenge when Groupama II was forced to withdraw having suffered structural problems and last autumn's Transat Jacques Vabre when Groupama II capsized. Over the winter the Groupama II team have concentrated on repairing and re-rigging their damaged trimaran.

For the race, anticipating the light winds they would encounter in the Mediterranean they carried a special genniker created by Jean-Baptiste Levaillant from Incidences.

From here Groupama II will be reconfigured for Grand Prix racing prior to the first Grand Prix of the new MultiCup circuit to be held in Baie des Anges on 20-21 May.

At present the results of the London-Nice race remain provisional pending a protest by Bidegorry who is claiming Groupama II for failed to show navigation lights at night.

Third hime was Michel Desjoyeaux and his crew on Géant who arrived into Nice at 16h 42'. Géant became a distinct worry to the two race leaders when she took off on a flier to the Spanish coast over the weekend and made great inroads.

Results:
1-Franck Cammas (Groupama 2) in 6d 21h 03’ 04’’
2-Pascal Bidégorry (Banque Populaire IV) in 6d 21h 26’ 36’’ : 23 minutes 32 seconds from the leader.
3-Michel Desjoyeaux (Géant) in 6d 23h 33’ 22’’ : 2 hours 30 minutes and 22 seconds from the leader.