Grand Prix Petit Navire - Day 7

Tenth Grand Prix Petit Navire Dragon

94 crews from sixteen nations are participating in the 10th anniversary of the Grand Prix Petit Navire and the Russians are out in force with 15 Dragon crews. With each edition of the event, several crews have regularly stood out and two of the boats participating in this year’s festivities have taken part in all 9 of the previous Grands Prix.

Familiar faces on the podium places in Douarnenez

The Coupe de Bretagne Dragon drew to a close on Monday and proved to be the perfect introduction before tackling the main section of the event, the Grand Prix Petit Navire, which officially began today. Two of the 94 crews haven’t missed a single Grand Prix since the creation of the event. Pol Richard Hoj-Jensen and his impressive track record were sorely missed at this year’s racing. The three-time winner of the Grands Prix would have had to do battle with his loyal adversary, the formidable Thomas Müller accompanied by Vincent Hoesch. The former, winner of the Coupe de Bretagne in 2004 and the Grand Prix in 2007, and the latter, second in the Grand Prix in 2004. Vincent Hoesch has nevertheless amassed six Gold Cup titles and 7 World Champion titles. Their combined feat of arms on the Dragon circuit naturally makes them the big favourites of this edition, especially as they’ve just won the Coupe de Bretagne.

Russian sailor Inna Shternberg is racing on RUS 77, with which she won the Grand Prix in 2006, and she ranked 9th in this same Coupe. Among the competitors racing today who have stood out in previous Grands Prix are the Finnish crew skippered by Henrik Dahlman, a familiar face on the podium, as well as that of Louis Urvois, who is also the president of the SRD, the event organiser. Theis Palm, sailing on GBR 656, is also the winner of the Gold Cup (2008), while Lars Hendriksen on FIN 50 also holds this trophy, as does Jorgen Schönherr on African Queen, who has won the Gold Cup three times but has never won the Grand Prix.

The first for the Russians

The Grand Prix Dragon began today and just a single race could be run this afternoon due to a lack of wind in the morning. Fortunately the thermal breeze picked up as the sun finally deigned to light up the bay of Douarnenez. It was the crew of RUS 27, skippered by Anatoly Loginov, who immediately took control of the fleet and managed to hang onto their lead throughout the race. They ultimately crossed the finish at 1636 hours with a considerable lead over second placed NED 309 skippered by Guus de Groot and third placed GER 993 skippered by Stephan Link. The first French crew crossed the line in 7th position in the form of Lady Jane, the FRA 386 skippered by a decidedly inspired Luc Pillot, who was also the first French boat in yesterday’s Nautic Champion’s Race.

A first for Stamm

Bernard Stamm wasn’t able to participate in yesterday’s Nautic Champion’s Race so he came to join Bruno Jourdren and replace Kito de Pavant aboard the Dragon FRA 360 today. Instead of a single ‘Dragon discovery’ day, the solo Imoca 60 foot sailor and double winner of the round the world race with stopovers has ended up spending four days training in the Dragon class. “I don’t race enough, I tend to pilot more. And if you’re going to come here, it’s better to do things properly and sail throughout the duration of the Grand Prix”. That’s exactly what Stamm has done and on this first day of official racing the FRA 360 ranked 8th. “He learns quickly of course” explains Bruno Jourdren. “I’m not on my own, it’s real teamwork. Sailing on a Dragon is very different because in a 60 footer you create your own wind, whilst the Dragon makes headway in true wind, which was very light in this instance. In any case, on this type of boat, you’re quick not to go quickly!”

100 riders on the start line

Tonight the kitesurfers will be preparing for battle as competitors are due to set off from the beach of Sables Blancs tomorrow to contest the Grand Prix Petit Navire Kitesurfing, the second largest European championship of “speed-crossing” with yet another exceptional line-up in Douarnenez. All the top names will be here, some all the way from Quebec, UK, Spain, Italy and Germany, as well as some French hotshots of course, including Fabienne d’Ortoli, double world champion, Bruno Sroka triple world, European and French champion, and of course Alex Caizergues, the world’s fastest man across the water of all crafts combined.

Racing starts tomorrow from 1330 hours.

More information at www.grandprixpetitnavire.com