Concertina

Leaders perform badly during windward-leewards of Camaret in Tour Voile

One leg is sometimes enough to change the results overall dramatically. This was the case today after the windward-leeward race in Camaret-sur-mer. The two leaders Ile de France and Defi Partage Marseille didn't do well on this race today finishing 15th and 19th respectively, and as a result they are now fighting at the top of the leaderboard with the same amount of points, while behind, the gaps are closing. Cotes d'Armor and Joe Fly Sailing Team finished second and third, like yesterday, and gained a few more points overall, closing in on the leaders. Nouvelle Caledonie won their first race since the beginning of this 29th edition.

'This victory is a relief for us," said Vincent Portugal, skipper of Nouvelle Caledonie. "Our TFV is starting in Camaret-sur-mer! We have never had any doubt about our potential because our boat is very fast and our team has a lot of experience, but after two or three bad results, it's hard to feel confident. The best way to come back in the game is to win!"

In a moderate north-westerly breeze, racing the Mumm 30s started their windward leeward at 11.20 this morning. The race would be a tactical one around the bay of Camaret crews playing the currents. On board Joe Fly Laurent Pages, described it: "we sailed during the tide change so the current was running all around the bay. We had to choose the right side of the course and it was not easy, but we are happy with our result."

The Italians are still fifth but only 15 points from the Swiss team on Ville de Geneve-Carrefour Prevention.

Third overall, Mumm 30 World Champion Pierre-Loïc Berthet is also catching up the leaders, thanks to his sixth place today. "It's not easy to climb up the results," said Laurent Simon, bowman onboard Matondo Congo - Route de l'équateur. "We have to gain point after point and be quite conservative. That's what we have always done, but we also know when to attack when the moment is right. The TFV is very open this year. A lot of teams can win."

Tonight at 19.00, the competitors will start the next offshore leg towards La Roche Bernard, in Morbihan (between Vannes and Nantes). It will be the first time the Tour de France à la Voile ever stops in this small port.

Overall results:

Pos	Boat	Skipper	Tot
1	DEFI PARTAGE MARSEILLE	T Bouchard / M Paul / D Deruelle	454
1	ILE DE France	Jean Pierre Nicol	454
3	MATONDO CONGO ROUTE DE L'EQUATEUR	Pierre-Loic Berthet/Philippe Monnet	437
4	VILLE DE GENEVE CARREFOUR PREVENTION	Loic Furher / denis Girardet	433
5	JOE FLY SAILING TEAM	Giovanni Maspero	418
6	COTES D'ARMOR	Michael Aveline	417
7	TOULON PROVENCE MEDITERRANEE-COYCHYERES	Fabien Henry/Tugdual Becquemie	392
8	ILE MAURICE-NAIADE RESORTS EBSCO	Sylvain Chtounder	390
9	DEFI BASSE NORMANDIE	Benoit Charon / Nicolas Jossier	364
10	DIEPPE SEINE MARITIME	Romain Gibon	360
11	NOUVELLE CALEDONIE	Damien Iehl/Vincent Portugal	354
12	MER MONTAGNE LES SAISIES INSA	R David / F Gaggero/ C Fleury	352
13	COURRIER DUNKERQUE	Daniel Souben/Christophe Patou	349
14	CAP SPORT-HEC-ECOLE NAVALE	Hervé Gautier/Bruno Barbarin	326
15	PERPIGNAN MEDITERRANEE	Paul McKenzie	324
16	VanUden TU Delft	Gert Van Der Heijden	323
17	NANTES-SAINT NAZAIRE	A. Civel / G. Gendron / S.Petithuguenin	313
18	ALFA LAVAL	Yoann Richomme	308
18	ESPOIRS AQUITAINS	JP Allilaire / N Radot / JJ Frebault	308
20	DEFI SCLEROSE EN PLAQUES	Stéphane Venel	270
21	PARTOUCHE-CENTRALE NANTES-RTE	Erwan Aubertin/Masson Julien	264
22	VILLE DU PORT-BRED-LA REUNION	Gabriel Jean-albert / Marc Guessard	260
23	VAL THORENS	Lucas Millieret / Benoit Lequin	258
24	CENTRALE PARIS-EPF	Tanguy Leglatin	253
25	PORT AUTONOME LA ROCHELLE	Jean Marc Allaire	224
26	ESPOIR ILE DE France	Benoit Hochard / Mathieu Roynette	218
27	ELLES EN MER	Kiny Parade	204
28	BREST GRANDES ECOLES-ENSIETA-ESC	Marie Riou/Eric Peron/alex Pallu de La Barriere	199
29	T SERVICE INTERIM-REGION BRUXELLES CAPITALE	Laurent Declercq / JM Fobert-Noel	198
30	BIENNE VOILE	R Hartmann/L Muller/T Studer	194
31	EIGSI CHARENTE MARITIME-ENSAM	Bertrand Svilarich	164