Tour de France à la Voile 2013 Dunkirk In-Port Races

Tour de France a la Voile in-port races in Dunkirk © JM LIOT / TFV / ASO

The first offshore leg leaves tonight. An 110-mile course from Dunkirk, Northern France, to the Dutch port Breskens after the two morning's in-port races won by Franck Cammas.

The first real sail of this 2013 edition promises to be breezy and tough. Pros and amateurs, all sailors are looking forward to it.

"It's going to be hot, fast and tough!" said race director Christophe Gaumont when looking at the routing software. All 12 M34 will cross the start lime at 9pm. Arrivals are expected early tomorrow morning after a night in 18 to 25 knots of wind from the SW – ie. a breezy spinnaker leg.

First a long starboard leg to the NE until they are off Rotterdam. There they have to round a buoy nearby the Bollen W mark to sail down to the Escaut delta. The fleet will sail up the river to cut the finish line in Breskens.

"A fat windy leg!" said Gaumont one more time. "Météo France forecasts 22 to 25 knots of wind during the night with speeds up to 15 knots. The Adrena software forecasts 11 knots of average speed. One thing though, we are sailing away from Marseille!"

The intense maritime traffic in the North Sea sailing also makes the navigation tricky. All one design M34 must keep off the coast and respect the TSS.

Warming up took place this morning with two in-port races off Dunkirk. Sailing conditions were ideal with 10-12 knots from the SW, calm sea state and sunny weather.

Team OmanSail led the first race until the last upwind lap when Groupama 34 overtook them and won. Even tighter, Bretagne Crédit Mutuel Elite, Sodebo and Courrier Dunkerque led the second race for a while. A Sodebo's protest later, the three of them lost it all and Groupama was leading by an inch off the finish line. Groupama is still leading the temporary overall ranking, Sodebo is second and Courrier Dunkerque (third of both races today) is third overall.

Such fight makes the upcoming leg (ranked with a coefficient 3) even more important. That may explain the buzz on the dock tonight. All sailors were getting ready to leave for their first night at sea under the public's amazed eyes, those who enjoyed a sunny Sunday of shore activities in the race village and on the beach.

Quotes:

Louis Viat, Groupama 34:
"It was tense this morning 'cause we were constantly in touch with the others. It came down to the wire. Two great races in great conditions! I'm not sailing tonight as there is a bit of turnover with two new guys coming onboard. We'll have some food at the shore teams village. The sailors will rest at the hotel and we'll have some more food at 6pm. You need a full stomach to sail downwind at night in the breeze!"

Nicolas Pauchet, Courrier Dunkerque 3 helmsman:
"It's a satisfying morning in terms of point but Groupama is still taking first and first. We've got positive assets but also some stuff to sort out. Everybody is better and we need to be a bit faster and do fewer mistakes. One change onboard only: our navigator Hervé Gautier is coming onboard for the offshore leg. We love breezy downwind runs. We'll try to take advantage of it. It will come down to teamwork and energy."

Nicolas Troussel, Bretagne – Crédit Mutuel Elite skipper:
"We are looking forward to leave Dunkirk because we didn't sail very well here. Navigator Christopher Pratt staid ashore during the day preparing the offshore race. Everything got to be ready. Our objective tonight is to be slightly better than we've been in Dunkirk (laughs)."

Luzius Peter, Bienne Voile SRS co-skipper:
"We got a new team and many of us don't know what to expect... We'll sort it out. Sleep is the main problem. We know how tough is the morning when you're tired. Lorenz Muller has done some 13 or 14 tours - he knows what he is speaking about! We'll take a nap and get ready. We're going to take our warmer gears, load the boat and leave!"

Rankings after 5 Races:

1 GROUPAMA 34, CAMMAS Franck 124 pts - Blue spinnaker
2 SODEBO, COVILLE Thomas 113 pts
3 COURRIER DUNKERQUE 3, SOUBEN Daniel 111 pts
4 TEAM OMANSAIL, POULIGNY Cédric 108 pts
5 BRETAGNE CREDIT MUTUEL ELITE, TROUSSEL Nicolas 105 pts
6 VILLE DE GENEVE - CARREFOUR ADDICTIONS, METTRAUX Elodie-Jane et GROUX Nicolas 100 pts
7 NANTES - SAINT NAZAIRE - E.LECLERC, DOUGUET Corentin 95 pts
8 TOULON PROVENCE MEDITERRANEE - COYCH, BERNAZ Jean-Baptiste 94 pts
9 NORMANDIE, CHOQUENET Baptiste 88 pts
10 ISKAREEN, DITTMERS Christiane et BRUHNS Sönke 82 pts
11 MARTINIQUE - BE.BRUSSELS, MOURES Matthieu 76 pts
12 BIENNE - VOILE – SRS, PETER Luzius et KUNZ François 71 pts

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