Eurocat 2010 at Yacht Club de Carnac - Day 2
by Célia Mas-Delfault 2 May 2010 11:04 BST
30 April - 3 May 2010
The raid for the Nacra F20
The Eurocat owes its international fame to the fact that it is one of the only events at this level to combine technical races and a long distance race, the traditional turn around Houat. Held in esteem by amateurs and professionals, this long distance race enables teams to measure the potential of the boats.
246 boats presented themselves on the line and the start was given around 11.30am, just after a light rain shower, lowering the wind to five knots. It then fluctuated between 5 and 15 knots despite rain on the south of Houat. These variations really put a strain on the competitors nerves, thus it is not surprising to find the veterans in the top places.
Jean-Christophe Mourniac for example and David Lechêne who were 14th yesterday, finish today 2nd. World champion on the Hobie Tiger in 2006 and bronze medal at the F18 European Championship in 2007 with his crew Franck Citeau, Mourniac come far ahead of Mitch Booth (12th) and Darren Bundock (14th). It is worth noting the good results of Frédéric Le Peutrec who is currently 8th in the general provisional ranking and 13th in the long distance.
Frédéric Le Peutrec, winner of the Jules Verne Trophy on Groupama III is back to his first loves, sports multihulls, and back to the Eurocat where he has regularly been at the top of the rankings. On the side of the oceanic sailors who come back from time to time, often in Carnac, to sports mulithull, Yvan Bourgnon finished this long distance 19th.
In the C1 class, Caroline Brouwer beat the competition finishing 38th overall and first C1. She proved that well sailed, the Viper is today one of the fastest 16 foot sports catamarans on the market.
On scratch, it was the brand new Nacra F20 which won and took line honours in 2 hours, 30 minutes and 26 seconds. Equipped with curved fins acting as foils, this boat literally flew over the competition. If the long distance race of the Eurocat, just like the Sydney Hobart and other classics is run on corrected time, the organization committee of the Eurocat Committee de l’Eurocat has decided to give a special prize to this team. The corrected time represents innovation and performance in th world of sports catamaran.
Concerning C3, the small catamarans, the Competition Team of Carnac YC have sparkled on their home playground. Loïs Berrehar and Emmanuel de Colombel on their SL16 finish 9th followed by Gauthier Lebec and Amélie Grassi on a SL 15.5 who are 11th. Pablo Mathevet and Hugo Pomellec on their SL16 are 24th and Pierre Renaud and Thibaud Maubert on a Hobie Cat 16, 29th.
Finally, in C4, the domination of the Hobie Dragoon has been emphatic as they took the first five places in the long distance.
To end this beautiful day a giant 'tartiflette' prepared with care by the twinning committee Carnac - La Clusaz was waiting for the competitors and the organization. Before, a draw of 50 lots given for the competitors had symbolized the fiftieth anniversary of the Carnac Yacht Club.
Full results on the Yacht Club de Carnac website.