It's getting closer in the rankings!

Bienne-Voile (Thomas Studer / Müller Lorenz) won the first leg and Bâtisseurs du Morbihan (Nicolas Pauchet / Victor Lanier) the next two. Nouvelle-Calédonie (Vincent Portugal / Ronan Dreano / Bernard Mallaret) is the winner of the last race today. In the overall ranking, Courrier Dunkerque (Daniel Souben) keeps the lead despite a bad day.

A shifty wind on the first leg
The wind shifted unexpectedly twenty degrees rightwards on the first beating leg. Student crew INSA – Sopra Group (Simon Troel) finished third after rounding the first buoy in first position. The race committee changed the curse of the race, but the wind shifted back in its initial position. Very few M 30s managed to take advantage of this new shift, but Bâtisseurs du Morbihan Etudiants (Tristan Nuiaouet) did so! The student crew was next to last at the first buoy, and finished eleventh at the finish line! Two Swiss boats finished ahead of this race: Bienne-Voile (Thomas Studer / Müller Lorenz) just before Ville de Genève – Carrefour Prévention (Etienne David).

A close match in the second race
The fleet was very close for the second race today: the starting line wasn’t perfectly perpendicular to the wind, the M 30s gathered at the committee boat so as to start on the right side of the line. Not everybody could take a good departure in such conditions. Solidarités Nouvelles pour le Logement (Eric Brezellec) had to come back under the line after an individual recall. Others had to try and get some free wind. The same situation could be observed at the windward buoy, the fleet was so close that several competitors had to display their red flag so as to protest against infractions. Bâtisseurs du Morbihan (Nicolas Pauchet / Victor Lanier) finally won that race – they ranked twenty-fourth in the first leg – in front of Nouvelle-Calédonie (Vincent Portugal / Ronan Dreano / Bernard Mallaret) and Ile-de-France (Jimmy Pahun).

The crew of Bâtisseurs du Morbihan confirms its first place in the third race of the day
The wind finally set and Bâtisseurs du Morbihan (Nicolas Pauchet / Victor Lanier) won that race again. They ranked ninth at the first poll, but sailed their way to the first place! “Our aim was to come little by little to the first place in the overall ranking. There will be more opportunities before we arrive in Hyères – Toulon Provence Méditerranée, hopefully we’ll succeed!” says helmsman Pierre-Loïc Berthet.
Student crew VanUden TUDelft VanOord (Suzanne Leinders / Michiel Van der Meulen) finished second in this race, just before the amateur Nantes Saint-Nazaire (Erwan Auburtin). Manche Basse-Normandie (Benoît Charon / Nicolas Jossier) was first at the windward buoy, but they had a collision with Ville du Port – Région Réunion (Gabriel Jean-Albert) and finished seventh.

Nouvelle-Calédonie won the last race
The race committee wanted to make up for the delayed races. This is why a fourth race was started today in sixteen knots of wind. It was a nice battle in the leading group with Elcimaï – Ville de Marseille (Dimitri Deruelle) and Ile-de-France (Jimmy Pahun). Thanks to stable weather conditions, the hierarchy observed at the first poll didn’t change so much until the arrival. Nouvelle-Calédonie (Vincent Portugal / Ronan Dreano / Bernard Mallaret) finally won this last race.

They get closer and closer!
Val Thorens (Lucas Millieret / Alexis Littoz) is back in the lead of the amateur ranking, in front of Saint-Malo Purflo Team SNBSM (François Lebourdais). Student crew INSA – Sopra Group (Simon Troel) is coming closer race after race to current leader CSC – HEC – Ecole Navale (Hervé Gautier)… As far as professionals are concerned, they have never been so close in the leading group! As a matter of fact, Courrier Dunkerque (Daniel Souben) keeps the lead but with fewer points between him and Nouvelle-Calédonie (Vincent Portugal / Ronan Dreano / Bernard Mallaret).

Next departure is forecast tomorrow at noon in front of Saint-Cyprien, for one or more races. The twenty-seven M 30s of the Tour de France Sailing Race will then leave to Port-Barcarès in moderate gales!