Tour Voile - Day 16: Lorina Limonade sparkles in Marseille
by A.S.O. / Tour de France à la voile 24 Jul 2016 22:12 BST
24 July 2016
Lorina Limonade – Golfe du Morbihan seems to be unbeatable in this 2016 Tour de France à la Voile. Quentin Delapierre, Bruno Mourniac and Kevin Peponnet sailed a perfect coastal race today in Marseille, making absolutely no mistakes around the tricky Mediterranean course. They are now leading the event with a 53 point margin.
Quentin Ponroy watched his team from the land: "Yes it's true, we have a really good boat speed. We quickly caught up the leading pack, apart from Natixis who managed to stay in front of us for a long time. It was a great battle against them. Then they made a mistake and we took the lead and sailed away from the chasing pack. The good thing about it is we had time to watch the landscape. What an amazing race course here !"
After their new podium today Grandeur Nature Véranda takes 2nd place overall in front of Crédit Mutuel de Bretagne. In a light westerly breeze, Skipper Jean-Christophe Mourniac did not take a good start but thanks to good tactics and boatspeed, he passed the whole fleet to cross the line in second position after an breath-taking moment just 200 meters from the finish. "We were in third and the wind dropped suddenly. Mojito fell in that lull, and we came from behind with just a bit more fresh air. The most difficult in those moments is to be able to feel where the wind comes from and trim the sails accordingly. It will be difficult to catch up Lorina Limonade. Look at their speed today ! Now we just have to keep an eye on those behind us"
Green Diam 24 Lorina Mojito – Golfe du Morbihan finishes third and comforts their leadership on the Young and Amateur Rankings. Solune Robert and his crew are climbing on the podium for the fourth time so far in the Tour. "It was frustrating to see Grandeur Nature passing us as it's not the first time we are missing 2nd place. But we are happy with this podium. It could have been worse considering the lack of wind on the finish line. We are confident with the way we sail. Achille did a great job calling the tactics, while Gautier and I managed to get a good boat speed. We can be proud of ourselves. Of course we would love to snatch a victory. It will be difficult on a coastal race because our mates from Limonade are very fast, but I believe we can do it in stadium racing format", said co-skipper Solune Robert.
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