France Open Skiff event at Lac du Der - stage 1 of Breizhskiff series

The France Open Skiff event sees boats from 8 nations © Christophe Favreau / www.christophefavreau.book.fr

The France Open Skiff event sees boats from 8 nations © Christophe Favreau / www.christophefavreau.book.fr

The France Open Skiff event sees boats from 8 nations © Christophe Favreau / www.christophefavreau.book.fr

Situated 2 hours east of Paris on Europe’s largest man made reservoir the ‘France Open Skiff’ at Lac du Der, mixed Skiff Easter bonanza has gone from strength to strength in recent years to over 50 mixed class Skiff style boats from 8 nations in this year’s edition. This event is the 1st stage of the annual breizhskiff series.

Truly International in flavour Lac du Der’s geographical location is perfect being situated within 4 hours drive of just about everywhere! Calais, the west coast of France, Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg Switzerland, Austria and much of Germany are all within easy reach. This event has become the premier International mixed fleet Skiff event in Europe and it is still gathering momentum. ‘France Open Skiff’ at Lac du Der benefits from all the vital ingredients from great racing and friendly International atmosphere to chocolate crepes etc.....!

This year competitors were graced with a full variety of conditions from 4 to 18 knots with the added bonus of 3 days solid spring sun before the stronger wind arrived on Monday.

The Musto Skiffs designated the event as the first of their Eurocup series for 2012 and a strong Swiss and Dutch contingent enjoyed meeting at the near halfway point.

The RS and Musto Skiff classes assisted in the funding of the coaching that has become the norm at this event as for many Europeans this represents the first racing of the season after a winter break enforced by their cold home winter climates. Peter Barton and 29er World Champ, Kevin Fischer-Guillou, provided the coaching with the fleet split into two on Friday and Saturday morning prior to racing.

When racing commenced on Saturday afternoon it was clear that the squad of 3 Dutch 49ers were well drilled, dominating the top of the results sheet in the medium breeze after 3 races. One race on Sunday before the fleet returned to shore to bask in the sunshine in a light dying breeze saw the French RS800 team of Laurent Thouvenin & Olivia Coindreau pull a blinder to comfortably lead the 49ers at the first mark. They went on to win with the results at the top of the fleet compressing going into the final day.

Monday belonged to the Moths with 12-18knots and 4 short sharp races fired off in quick succession. Having swapped his coaching whistle for his sailing gloves Peter Barton won the day with Germanys’ Markus Steeg close behind. The 49er of Sander de Kok & Pieler Nijsse from Holland dominated behind the Moths and comfortably took the overall title. 2nd overall went to Swiss Musto Skiff veteran Roger Oswald with Hollands Paul Dijkstra in 3rd, also in a Musto Skiff. The 1st ‘mixed team’ prize went to RS800 sailors David Holenweg & Laureline Chevalley from Switzerland in 10th.

If you own a Skiff type boat and enjoy some competitive mixed fleet racing with International flavour be sure to get this into your calendar for 2013. For the Brits this quite accessible without extra time off work or would make a great week abroad combined with some late season skiing being half way to the Alps. Particularly, the single entries in the RS500 and RS100 classes from Holland and Germany would enjoy the addition of visiting UK fleets.

Many congratulations to Andre, Maikol and Francois for their hard work and success in developing this increasingly popular event. And a thank you to the sponsors for their assistance; Schuco, Wanaboat!, Musto Skiff and RS Sailing.

The next event in the Breizhskiff series is the Teignouse’s Cup at Quiberon, 29 April – 1 May which also includes the French International Moth Championship.

See also www.franceopenskiff.fr/en/the-race/ and www.breizhskiff.com/

Overall Results: