Grand Prix Ecole Navale - Day 1

A great opening day

Thursday was a superb opening day for the ninth edition of the Grand Prix Ecole Navale which includes France’s One Design Cruiser Racer Championships. As well as great weather, sunshine and good winds, there were ample opportunities for tactical gains, especially in the J80 Class which raced opening three races off Brest. The Open 7.50, Class 6.50 and the Longtze made a speed crossing race between Lanvéoc and Brest. And there was a rare and inspiring muster, celebrating a remarkable legacy, as the five Pen Duick yachts lined up in front of Lanvéoc to celebrate the opening of these championships. The Admiral Marc de Briançon sailed on board Pen Duick, accompanying the speed crossing by the sportsboats.

Three races were sailed for the highly competitive J80 class in near perfect conditions of 10 knots of breeze, clear skies studded with cumulus clouds. All the perfect ingredients came together to make a great opening day over which consistency was essential to top the different classes. And in the J80 class Eric Brezellec and his team on Jacuzy Gold lead the overall standings as reward for their hat trick of first places. Jean Quéveau (Nantes St Nazaire for a smile), Jean-Charles Moriceau (Interface Concept) and Lionel Conort (Marine Brest 1 (Howler) took 1st, 2nd and 3rd places over the day. And then during the evening, as has become part of the unique ambience of this keynote regatta, all 53 J80 teams totaling 265 crew met up for an evening of crepes at the Moulin Blanc.

The Speed Crossing for the sportsboats traditionally opens the Grand Prix Ecole Navale and the Open 7.50, Class 6.5 and Longtze jousted on the 15 miles out and back passage between Lanvéoc and Brest, a beat and then fast reaching in a very changeable and at times challenging breeze. But the leading groups remained tight and a close, tactical battle developed upwind and down. The difficult bit was the entry to the commercial port of Brest. As would be expected, the Open 7.50 and their 65 m2 of spi charged ahead with the 6.50’s chasing in their wakes. In the Open 7.50 the team of Nicolas Grolleau on Vector Plus took first place in class and winning outright. In the Longtze class it was Germany’s Wet Feet skippered by Eckhard Keller which takes forward a small lead, and in the 6.5m Manual Guédon and his crew on Nemo lead the Speed Crossing Crossing Speed until a just a few meters from the finish the arrival when a sly tactical move paid for Glenn Gouron, on K.MA3, stealing victory within metres of the line.

On top of their game too were the organizing teams. All of the assembled teams commented on the high overall standard of organization. One regrettable incident was the dismasting of the Longzte Safran Central School of Paris.

Quotes:

Marc Guillemot, Open 7.50 Safran and the regatta’s ambassador):
"The organization is extraordinary here. Everyone works together for each other and the atmosphere is great. I am really delighted with the reception I get here. I’ll keep pushing that the class come here and we come in force. We really enjoyed the Speed Crossing, these was current, there were different winds, it was cool."

Nicolas Grolleau (Open 7.50 Vector Plus):
"Great conditions and it was nice to tussle with Marco and Lionel Lemonchois (Prince de Bretagne) on the way out. On the way back the choice of sail was key to winning. . We are really happy to come back here for the first time since 2005. It is a bay which we like racing on."

Manuel Guédon (Mach 6.5 - Nemo):
"We lead the whole race until the finish when K.MA3 revealed a great tactical move and that was it. It’s a great class of nine boats at this great sportsboat festival."

Eckhard Kaller (Longtze - Wet Feet):
"The wind was very changeable and the lead changed a lot in the class and the fleet stayed tightly grouped all the way through the races. It was nip and tuck a lot of the time." Open 7,50 Prince de Bretagne, Pauline Chalaux : Usually we compete in Match Racing and we train in First Class 8’s at Saint Quay Portrieux. We are a small group of seven ort eight girls. The other part of our crew is racing at the moment at the European (Eurosaf) Championships. This Grand Prix is good for us, giving us the chance to race with a skipper who is not too inexperienced (nb Lionel Lemonchoix). This support is maybe a little physical but we have learned a lot."

Longtze Ile de France, Jimmy Pahun:
"It was good. The Longtze has some of the feel of a dinghy. We had fun racing in the commercial port with five boats. We did not know who was to pass in front at the entrance to the port. This Grand Prix allows us to prepare a bit for our Tour de France.

Stephan Christidis, Longtze HEC - Navale college:
"The weather was perfect, we had good conditions with 10-13 knots of wind. And it was cool to be racing in a fleet with 17 Longtze. I am already looking forward to tomorrow to race round the three buoys. Our team is formed by students who have some experience from the Tour Voile, but they don’t have a lot of experience on these smaller boats, but I am pleasantly surprised at their level. They were very reactive. Our objective is to progress with each race and keep learning together."

Open 6..50 Oceane Girls:
"The conditions were superb, the course area and stretch of water is magnificent. We are the first female crew in the Open 6.50 Class. When the Ocean Sailing School leant us this boat we decided to put together a femal crews. Today we maybe did not go as well as we could have because we were a crew down, with four instead of five, so we were at a bit of a disadvantage because we were even lighter than the other crews. We learned our level in the fleet and want to do better."

Speed Crossing Reults: (provisional)

CLASSE OPEN 7.50
1. VECTEUR PLUS : Nicolas GROLEAU
2. SAFRAN : Marc GUILLEMOT
3. PRINCE DE BRETAGNE : Lionel LEMONCHOIS

CLASSE LONGTZE
1. WET FEET : Eckhard KALLER
2. GENERATION ECOLE NAVALE : Stéphane CHRISTIDIS
3. CSC - HEC ECOLE NAVALE : Hervé GAUTIER

CLASS 6.50
1. K. MA3 : Glenn GOURON
2. NEMO : Manu GUEDON
3. FOLLEN DU : Michel SAUGET

J80 (after 3 races)
1. JACUZZI / GOLD SAILING : Eric Brezellec 9pts
2. GANJA : Luc Nadal 14pts
3. MARINE BREST (HOWLER) : Lionel Conort 16pts

More information on the event website.