French AZAB

International roster of doublehanded crews to set sail on Class 40 Azores and back race

An international line-up of sailors is preparing for the second running of the Class 40's Les Sables d'Olonne-Azores-Les Sables d'Olonne race.

At present 24 boats are entered in this doublehanded race to Horta on the island of Faial, and back to the famous Vendee Globe. After a week of preparation, testing and measurement on the Vendée Globe pontoons in LSD's Port Olona, the 24 boats will sail a prologue event on 3 July at 1430 around the bay off Les Sables d'Olonne, before starting the race proper at 12:02 on 5 July with the first 1270 mile leg to Horta. While the race is sailed doublehanded, the crew can be changed for the inboard and outbound legs.

The line-up is a particularly strong one and also quite international, although the bulk of the fleet is of course French. Leading lights taking part from across the Channel include former Vendee Globe skipper Benoit Parnadeau and long term Class 40 skipper Yvan Noblet. However the favourite for the race is certain to be hairy Italian Giovanni Soldini who is competing with former ORMA 60 turned D35 catamaran skipper, Karine Fauconnier.

A number of potent entries are being fielded from the UK side of the channel with several boats/teams making their class debut. This includes former Open 60 skipper and Round Britain & Ireland Race winner Richard Tolkien who is sailing the new Humphreys-designed ORCA 40 with Tom Humphreys (son of Rob). This will be their first competitive outing in a major class race. The race will also be the first for Irish former Mini sailor Cian McCarthy aboard his new generation Owen-Clarke design.

Entrants

Boat	Skipper	Co-skipper	Nat	Design	Built
ELSA - France	Yann DELPLACE	Joel VILLACAMPA/Jean-Baptiste SAIGNE	FRA	Groupe Finot	2005
DESTINATION CALAIS - France	Pierre-Yves CHATELIN	Lionel REGNIER	FRA	Pierre Rolland	2005
VALE INCO - Nouvelle Calédonie	Yves ECARLAT	Romain GABRIEL	FRA	Groupe Finot	2006
GROUPE SEFICO - France	Philippe VALLEE	Eric CAIVEAU	FRA	Finot-Conq	2006
FRA - 17	Benoît PARNAUDEAU	Jean SAUCET	FRA	Axel de Beaufort	2006
ORBIS - Royaume-Uni	Stephen CARD	Shaun MURPHY	GBR	François Lucas	2006
NOUS ENTREPRENONS - France	Jacques FOURNIER	Jean-Edouard CRIQUIOCHE	FRA	Groupe Finot	2006
APPART CITY - France	Yvan NOBLET	Damien GUILLOU	FRA	Julien Marin	2006
KERLARIA - Royaume-Uni	Mike WEST	Ian BARTLETT	GBR	Marc Lombard	2007
EDF Energies Nouvelles Vestas - France	David AUGEIX	Jean-Claude TURPIN/Jean-Pierre BALMES	FRA	Marc Lombard	2007
TECHNEAU - France	Gilles DUTOIT	Arnaud DAVAL/Benoît DAVAL	FRA	Groupe Finot	2007
TZU-HANG - Allemagne	Axel STRAUSS	Juerg BURGER	SWI	Marc Lombard	2007
TELECOM ITALIA - Italie	Giovanni SOLDINI	Karine FAUCONNIER	ITA/FRA	Guillaume Verdier	2007
NEURODON.FR - France	Christian CHARDONNAL	Christophe EYSSARTIER	FRA	Groupe Finot	2008
VOILES SANS FRONTIERES - France	Marc JOLY	Jérémie BRIAND	FRA	Groupe Finot	2007
GROUPE PARTOUCHE	Christophe COATNOAN	Sébastien FIGUE	FRA	Jacques Valer	2007
CG MER - France	Wilfrid CLERTON	Loïc LEHELLEY	FRA	Marc Lombard	2008
TALES - Espagne	Gonzalo BOTIN	Alvaro LOPEZ-DORIGA	SPA	Marc Lombard	2008
68 - France	Denis LAZAT	Rémi AUBRUN/Frédéric NOUEL	FRA	Groupe Finot	2009
69 - Italie	David CONSORTE	Arnaud AUBRY	FRA	Groupe Finot	2008
FRA - 71	Pierre-Marie BAZIN	Alain GRINDA/Jean-Christophe CASO	FRA	Marc Lombard	2008
ORCA - Royaume-Uni	Richard TOLKIEN	Tom HUMPHREYS	GBR	Humphreys Yacht Design	2008
CINNAMON GIRL	Cian Mc CARTHY	David KENNEFICK	IRE	Owen Clarke Design	2009
ZED 4 - Belgique	Gérald BIBOT		FRA	Marc Lombard	2009