C-Class Catamaran Championship at Restronguet Sailing Club - Day 5

Action from the C-Class Catamaran Championship © Jim Champ

Day 5 at the C-Class Catamaran Championship © Loris von Siebenthal / Hydros

Action from the C-Class Catamaran Championship © Jim Champ

Is Groupama C unbeatable?

In light airs and gradually increasing Cornish fog, three Petit Fleet races were held today in Falmouth Bay followed by two intense match races between Groupama and Hydros 1. The fog became so thick that racing was ended for the day.

In the Petit Fleet races there was a clean sweep for the North Americans, Canaan and Cogito swapped first and second in race two and three, and Fill Your Hands was victorious in race one.

Franck Cammas continued his dominance of the event, now in match racing against Hydro, his boat foiling to victory in the two races today.

Racing will start tomorrow at 11.00 subject to conditions, with 30 knot winds predicted.

Match Race Results:

Petit Fleet Race Results: (after three races)

Action from the C-Class Catamaran Championship - photo © Jim Champ

Imminent crown for Groupama C? (from Groupama sailing team)

After the two sessions of match racing contested this Thursday in Falmouth in the battle for the World C Class Champion title, Franck Cammas and Louis Viat aboard Groupama C weren't giving the Swiss team on Hydros any chances. Better in the pre-start phase, faster over the course, the French crew secured two bullets with panache.

It now remains to be seen whether or not the strong breeze expected on Friday and Saturday will enable the organisers to launch further races...

In the meantime, let's not deny ourselves a good thing and give Groupama sailing team the credit it deserves: the ability to design, build, fine tune and then race one of the most fantastic machines to fly across the water: the C Class, a kind of AC72 scaled down to a third.

Indeed, that's the appeal of this class with its highly restrictive measurement: to give free rein to the talent and imagination of naval architects, engineers and sailors to design the fastest catamarans in the world. The upshot of this is that in just 7 knots of breeze, Groupama C reached the speed of 21 knots, which is three times as fast...

Equipped with foils and a canting wing mast, Franck Cammas' catamaran hasn't given its rivals any opportunities. And the Swiss on Hydros can't say the contrary despite a long night of work yesterday in a bid to adopt some of the ingenious devices seen on Groupama C, such as the canting mast.

It remains to be seen how the wind Gods will behave on Friday and Saturday before we learn if Groupama C will have to compete further or instead wait quietly in port for the latest World C Class Champion title, alias the Little America's Cup. Indeed, in excess of 20 knots of breeze, the Race Committee won't be launching any starts, thus respecting the class' rules, which are not dissimilar to those that prevailed in San Francisco over recent days...

If this is the case, then the results from the three days of fleet racing will prevail.

Quotes:

Franck Cammas: "It was a great day. Despite our influence upwind, I was also keen to win the start phases. We did just that in both races, which is a good thing. It's a shame the fog moved in so soon as I'd have really liked to have continued racing".

Louis Viat: "We won both races by a sizeable margin. We were surprised almost. Franck certainly did a good job before the start. It's always easier to win when you're in the lead at the start".

Hydros waiting for the wind! (from Team Hydros)

The weather conditions of this world championship remain difficult, with a light wind barely exceeding ten knots, a choppy sea, fog and drizzle.

Facing Franck Cammas on Groupama in the final of the Little Cup, Billy Besson and Jérémie Lagarrigue didn't give up today, but they suffered against the French champion of match race. However, once back to base, both sailors kept on smiling and showed maturity.

"The first feeling I have, is a certain frustration because of the fact of not being able to go challenge our opponents, and to sometimes feel a little like being part of the landscape. But when we stand back and analyze the situation, we quickly realize that we have only been working on this project for one / one and a half year. We defeated the Canadians, title-holders, and we are now struggling against a team which is among the best of the world. Of course, we are competitors, and we would always like to win! There are things to change, hours of training to add, and work to be achieved, to come back more experienced and to race to win", said Billy Besson, skipper of SUI 1.

Jérémie Lagarrigue added: "The objective was to qualify for the final, and we did it. Now, we would have preferred to be able to fight a little more during these races, but we must admit that upwind, our boat is less efficient than Franck's boat (Cammas). Experience is something that has to be gained, and that is exactly what we have always done: building our knowledge, collecting data to become better. Right now, we are going to continue like that and we have already proven that our foils are excellent and that we are very efficient downwind. It is hard to admit that we will not win this time, but we have to be wise and see all the work we have done this year, where we are today, and we where we could be soon!"

Day 5 at the C-Class Catamaran Championship - photo © Loris von Siebenthal / Hydros

In fleet race, Mischa Heemskerk and Bastiaan Tentij are fighting for the third place in conditions not favoring them. Indeed, their catamaran is designed - just like the one of Besson/Lagarrigue, to fly on its foils, and thus in a wind ideally above 8 knots. However, these conditions do not seem to be part of this world championship and in fact boats less high-tech, designed to sail the traditional way are leading the race.

The ranking the teams had yesterday, made up of the sum of the nine races (minus the points of the two first boats), was converted to one race. The points of the following races will, from now on, be added to it.

Thus, SUI11 (Heemskerk/Tentij) are now number 5 after the two finalists as well as the boats Canaan and Cogito.

"Today, we did our best, we sailed properly, but the weather conditions were clearly in favor of our adversaries, designed for light winds. A boat is always a compromise, and it is difficult to be the best everywhere. We must work on versatility today. I also have to admit that we are fed up with the fog and the light winds. I believe that we have the same feeling as Billy today, a certain frustration to have given everything."

Mathematically, the French are only leading by two points. On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, the Americans have reminded the sportsmen of the whole world that it is only at the end of the competition that the results are final. Unfortunately, the weather conditions are likely to jeopardize the navigations of the next days, with a violent front forecasted as from tomorrow with winds around 30 knots.

More Information:

• The Event Website
• C-Class Facebook Page
• Little Cup Live Video @ UStream
• Live Tracking @ Sailracer
• HD video @ Vimeo
• C-Class Twitter Feed
• Hashtag: #LittleCup