Sea, Sail & Surf newsTour de France à la voile
The Swiss snatch their fifth victory in Sète
dimanche 21 juillet 2002 –
Therefore it was happy faces onboard the Swiss boat as the stepped off. "If we can revive the legend that the Swiss are good in light airs, that’s a good thing. It’s true that we’re used to light air conditions. We feel confident and hope to stay like this until the end of the regatta. However, we remain prudent as we know the Med’s conditions can be treacherous", explained Etienne David, skipper of Ville de Genève Carrefour Prévention.
Then he commented on today’s race : "It was a strange race. It paid at the start for all the boats that favoured the left. Near the finish we managed to pass Ville d’Antibes-NEC towards the end because they had their fractional spinnaker up while we kept the big kite".
Marc Audineau of Ville d’Antibes -NEC confirmed it : "We made a slight mistake at the end when we kept the fractional spinnaker for too long. However, we’re pretty happy with our result as we were five new crew onboard".
Ville d’Antibes-NEC has now climbed to fourth place overall. Former leader, Nantes-St-Nazaire came home in 20th position and therefore dropped to second place overall.
Région Ile de France finished in11th and remains third overall.
Italian Vasco Vascotto seemed to have been good influence onboard Cassis – Mauguio Carnon as they finished in 5th. Their best result so far. Former Mumm 30 world champion commented on the race : " I think that we did a great job because we had made a big mistake. We missed a gate by one mile so we had to go back, loosing 4 boats. After we sail really well and finished fifth. So we improve our performance and for the crew it is good as they have good concentration and aggression for the next races. We wanted to stay in the top five and we did so the crew are good, and we can do better", explained Vasco Vascotto.
Today, all the Mediterranean boats have suddenly woken up and proved that light air conditions suit them. Marseille, skippered by Dimitri Deruelle, finished in 7th.
Rob Greenhalgh’s Panther Team GBR finished in 15th position, which is good compare to their previous position within the fleet earlier today. Student leading boat Force EDC, skippered by Australia’s Simon Sutherland also made up a few boats and finished in 17th just ahead of Cap-Université St-Quentin Yvelinesm their biggest rival in the student division.
Owen Modral’s Royal Thames haven’t finished yet. They were in 35th position at the gate off Cap d’Agde, 15 miles form the finish.
Isabelle Musy
Dans la même rubrique
Tour de France à la voile : Light airs for the first offshore race in the Med
Race Week : Class Leaders Emerge
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Tour de France à la voile : Getting ready for the Med
