Pair of bullets for Nouvelle Caledonie

Windward-leeward races off Dieppe in the Tour Voile

The wind finally perked up on Dieppe, and the competitors of the Tour de France a la Voile were able to sail two windward-leeward races. Several general recalls, withdrawals, and penalties: the fleet which competed in front of Dieppe’s white cliffs today was in fighting form. The gentle breeze blowing this morning increased between the two races up to 15 knots. Despite her adversaries’ good performances, Nouvelle-Calédonie will be the one hoisting the red Honda Civic Hybrid spinnaker of the race leader. The M 30s will leave at 7pm for the next 178 nautical mile long offshore leg.

Twenty seven M 30s rushing towards the starting line - it couldn’t work. There were many general and individual recalls, but not a single proper start! ToulonProvence Méditerranée – COYCHyères (Fabien Henry) set the trend, touching the pin on the first start: “we wanted to start on port tack, which was too risky… we drifted onto the buoy”, explains crewman François Liron. Fabien Henry’s M 30 finally finished 13th The situation was no better on Elcimaï – Ville de Marseille (Dimitri Deruelle), which finished 16th in the first race due to a bad start: it isn’t easy to catch up on such a short course (1.3 nautical miles).

Victory finally went to Nouvelle-Calédonie (Vincent Portugal/Ronan Dreano/Bernard Mallaret) which won both races of today. Apart from the first mark, where they were second behind Brest Grandes Ecoles ENSIETA ESC (Loïc Le Garrec) Nouvelle-Calédonie led from there on. The team are already 24 points ahead of the second in the overall results, Manche Basse-Normandie (Benoît Charon / Nicolas Jossier). However, the Normans are favourites for the next offshore legs…but will they arrive first?

Regularity? Ask Saint-Malo Purflo Team SNBSM (François Lebourdais) about it! The amateur crew scored a fourth and fifth today, and are now only three points away from the podium, behind Bâtisseurs du Morbihan (Nicolas Pauchet/Victor Lanier). But it is very close between the third and the seventh M 30, which are only seven points apart.
It has to be remarked that Brest Grandes Ecoles ENSIETA ESC (Loïc Le Garrec) has been first for a whole leg during the first race. They finally ranked third in this race, but they were forced to abandon during the next one, because they tore their spinnaker hauling it down.

The sailors will leave Dieppe at 7pm for one of the longest offshore legs of this 2008 Tour de France Sailing Race. They should arrive in Granville – Pays Granvillais during the night between Friday and Saturday.

Results:

Leader of the Honda Civic Hybrid overall ranking
Nouvelle-Calédonie (Vincent Portugal / Ronan Dreano / Bernard Mallaret)

Leader of the Bouygues Télécom amateur ranking
Saint Malo Purflo Team SNBSM (François Lebourdais)

Leader of the Malongo student ranking
CSC – HEC – Ecole Navale (Hervé Gautier)

Race 2.1
Nouvelle-Calédonie (Vincent Portugal / Ronan Dreano / Bernard Mallaret)
Courrier Dunkerque (Daniel Souben)
Brest Grandes Ecoles ENSIETA ESC (Loïc Le Garrec)
Saint-Malo Purflo Team SNBSM (François Lebourdais)
Ile-de-France (Jimmy Pahun)

Race 2.2
Nouvelle-Calédonie (Vincent Portugal / Ronan Dreano / Bernard Mallaret)
Toulon Provence Méditerranée – COYCHyères (Fabien Henry)
Courrier Dunkerque (Daniel Souben)
Val Thorens (Lucas Millieret / Alexis Littoz)
Saint-Malo Purflo Team SNBSM (François Lebourdais)