Coupe de France at the Yacht Club de France - Day 2
by Fiona Brown 20 Mar 2004 19:02 GMT
Four more races on day two in beautiful spring conditions with gentle breeze and warming sun. The 165 team-members taking part in the second day of this very prestigious Coupe de France du Yacht Club de France in the gulf of Saint-Tropez today wrote a new page in the history of this trophy inaugurated in 1891.
With six races now completed the competitors are enjoying a fabuolous 54th edition of this wonderful event. With with wind dropping off during the day the water had became as smooth as a lake by midday, leading the organizers to reduce the length of the course in the final race of the day..
In the Dragon, lady luck smiled on Tsuica with Frenchman Gerard Blanc and CHI with Germany’s Michael Schatten, (the second having won the two first races of this Saturday), in front of Pistou with Jean-Sebastien Ponce. Bad lcuk on the other hand for Tamm ha Tamm with the Monegasque Christian Boillot who was disqualified in the first race today (race 3 overall) for failling to return from a premature start.
In the Melges 24, the very close racing in the fleet gave place to exceptionally close finishes. Britain’s Quentin Strauss leads in Gill, in front of I Gaulo and Flor Direct.
For the Mumm 30, the boat with the colors of the Yacht Club de France of Thierry Bouchard Défi Shared succeeded in widening the gap and resisting the repeated challenges by Pierre-Laurent Garnero and Bernard Mallaret of Toulon Provence the Mediterranean winners of the last race. Of note was the retirement of Mumm Island of France - National Navy from the race.
For Sunday’s final races the forecast is again for light winds and the 30 boats will be on the start line from 11 a.m. to dispute 2 or 3 more races in the gulf.