C-Class Catamaran Championship at Restronguet Sailing Club - Day 6
by Ken Docherty 27 Sep 2013 21:16 BST
21-28 September 2013
Too much wind on day 6 of the C-Class Catamaran Championship in Falmouth © Meredith Block
Near gale force winds lashed the shores of Carrick Roads today, shutting down racing and all but the most adventurous kitesurfers spread throughout the 2013 International C-Class Catamaran crews.
With Franck Cammas and Louis Viat two points ahead of Billy Besson and Jeremy Lagarrigue, Cammas needs only two more victories for his Groupama C team to claim the prestigious Little Cup as the Class's first-ever French International C-Class Champion.
Groupama's bright green foiler has shown a significant speed advantage in most conditions, most notably upwind, foiling clear of the water during up to 80% of the upwind legs. The Swiss Hydros boats may be even faster downwind, though not nearly enough to compensate for Cammas' upwind and light-air advantage.
Racing tomorrow has been moved up by 30 minutes to a 1030 GMT start and will be streamed live on the YachtsandYachting.com homepage.
Steve Clark, Duncan MacLane, Mischa Heemskerk, Franck Cammas, Fred Eaton, Magnus Clarke, Will Howden, and Jeremie Lagarrigue sat with Sailing Anarchy Senior Editor Alan Block for a 65-minute discussion on the future of the C-Class:
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Racing cancelled in Falmouth (from Team Hydros)
With more than 20 knots and gusts at 30, the limit was reached for the C-Class World Championship in Falmouth today. All the races of the day were cancelled and it is consequently a forced day off for the competitors and their technical teams.
The world championship of C-Class will definitely not have offered the right conditions to the Hydros crews, representing Switzerland in this competition considered as a technological lab. The last few days, a very light wind had blown in Falmouth Bay, conditions favoring less high-tech boats than the Swiss ones, designed to sail in a more traditional way. But this morning, Aeolus awoke and is currently blowing at 20 knots with gusts at 30, the fog is back, and the sea is rough so the Race Committee decided to cancel the races of the day. Tomorrow will be the last day of the Little Cup.
In Final, the Hydros crew of SUI 1, Jérémie Lagarrigue and Billy Besson, is sailing against the famous Franck Cammas who is currently leading 2-0 after the two races of yesterday. The second Hydros team made up of Mischa Heemskerk and Bastiaan Tentij, on board SUI 11, is fighting for the third place, but is currently ranked number 5.
"The technical team and the sailors have worked a lot over the last few days, we are all exhausted", said Jérémie Lagarrigue sailor and project manager of Hydros. "I must admit that this forced day off doesn't come at a bad time, even if we would all have liked to sail. We are taking advantage of this day to rest a little, to get ready for tomorrow, and to start talking about the future of the class and the next competitions."
Both Hydros crews hope that the races planned for tomorrow will be maintained, to finally be able to sail in a strong breeze. Whereas Jérémie and Billy hope to get closer to Franck Cammas, Mischa and Bastiaan count on this last day to mount the podium!