Deauville Sailing Week 2009 - Day 2
by Kate Jennings 6 Jun 2009 07:38 BST
4-7 June 2009
Happy days!
Conditions were idyllic on the Deauville race zone which, once again, was graced with sunshine today.
True to form in the Baie de Seine, the wind was a tiny bit capricious… South-East then East then North-East then East again then South-East again, with the crews left wondering which way was up! Added to this when the wind did blow it was certainly discrete…
“You can allow yourself up to 5° of ‘non-neutrality’ on the start line. Above this figure, the racers are bound to encounter problems so in this instance, we halt proceedings, we wait, we regularly note down what wind we’ve got and, ultimately, we set things going again. This is precisely what happened today as we had just an hour to wait for conditions to be right. During the first start the wind was stable and it was only during the race that it shifted. In that case it’s out of our hands and it’s over to the racers to play!” says Roland Galliot, president of the race committee on the Farr 30 round.
As such, after an hour of tanning the crews got down to business. The wind picked up and stabilised at between 6 and 8 knots. It wasn’t really the panacea but it was enough for the committees in charge of the Farr and Sportsboat rounds to validate 3 races.
Grand coastal course for the IRC
The Norman beaches no longer hold any secrets for the 31 boats in the Kilo round… a 32 mile course between Le Havre and Dives sur Mer proved to be sufficient to convince certain competitors: “The coastal course was a big challenge but it was so beautiful! Sailing along past the region’s beaches the day before an historic date is extremely exciting!” admitted Tristan Nelson, tactician aboard Batfish.
After 6 hours of racing, the winner is barely out of breath. When asked “What was your mindset today?” the English skipper humorously replied: “Make mine a double Calvados!”
Changes afoot in the ranking…
Today the crew of Marine Cherbourg CCVS were back in force in the J 80 class. Local to the event, the sailors from Lower Normandy, apparently more at ease in the light airs, were able to score a second place today in the general provisional ranking thanks to three fine races.
“We got off to some excellent starts and getting away from the others straightaway was just what was required. We also played with the wind a great deal. This is the basics from the school of racing: if it heads, tack!” explains Gilles Drouet, skipper of the J 80 Marine Cherbourg CCVS.
Nevertheless, Vog, skippered by Deauville sailor Philippe Szellos, is continuing to lead!
As far as the Farr 30s are concerned, Courrier Dunkerque has settled itself into pole position with another great series of performances. Behind, as forecast, the hierarchy has changed. Nouvelle Calédonie and Elcimaï have snatched second and third place respectively in the general provisional ranking. However, tomorrow’s ‘D-Day’ is very likely to prove decisive!
More information on the event website.