TPM - COYCHyères keeps the lead in light winds

In the general ranking, Toulon Provence Méditerranée – COYCHyères (Fabien Henry) keeps the first place, only one point ahead of Deruelle! The competitors will start the offshore leg bound to Dieppe tonight at 7pm.

The leading group
Three legs only, but a certainty already: the aces of M 30 are present on the 2008 Tour de France Sailing Race. Four to five boats were detached from the rest of the fleet during the daily races. Today’s highlight is the performance of Nouvelle-Calédonie (Vincent Portugal): they ranked first and third. “This is the result of three years of hard training, especially during the past months. We are all the happier since we won this leg at the beginning of the regatta, which is a way of showing the other competitors that we are to be taken seriously”. The winner of the Deauville International Week and of the Grand Prix de l’Ecole Navale is quite determined: “everytime we start a race, our aim is to win it”. Nouvelle-Calédonie is currently fourth in the general ranking.

Courrier Dunkerque at home
After a leg of fifteen yesterday, Daniel Souben’s crew showed their capacities today, ranking second and fifth in the windward leeward races. “We have a slight deficit of points due to our bad performance yesterday, but we’ll try to catch up during the next days of sailing. Tonight, we’ll have to be subtle and efficient, to deal with tiredness. We are able to do some good performance, so we’ll try to be first arriving in Dieppe!”

Elcimaï – Ville de Marseille’s secret: regularity« It was almost all about speed today. We did a good start for the second leg, and we rounded the windward buoy ahead. We then had a nice fight with Toulon Provence Méditerranée – COYCHyères ». Twice fourth, then winner of the last leg, the skipper relies on his regularity. “It’s a long race, and I think we can still improve before we arrive in Atlantique”.

A tight race among the Amateurs, dead heat between students
Saint Malo Purflo Team SNBSM (François Lebourdais) is first of the amateur ranking tonight, only two points before his direct opponent Val Thorens (Alexis Littoz et Lucas Millieret). These crews are currently fifth and sixth in the general ranking, and they really mean to improve!
In the student ranking, INSA Sopra Group (Simon Troel) and CSC – HEC – Ecole Navale (Hervé Gautier) are placed equal first. They rank in the second half of the general ranking.

Meanwhile the sailors are having a rest, the preparators are working hard on the boats. They’ll have to be ready at 7pm to leave towards Dieppe, a 93 nautical miles offshore leg with winds up to force 4, which will drop between force 1 and 3 tonight. The M 30s are expected tomorrow morning in Dieppe.