The professionals establish themselves as leaders

Extraordinary weather conditions
“The tramontane blew between 18 and 25 knots throughout the day” says race director Alain Fédensieu. The professionals made there voice heard in these conditions. The first boats in the overall ranking finished first to fourth in the last race. Elcimaï – Ville de Marseille (Dimitri Deruelle) was ahead of Toulon Provence Méditerranée – COYCHyères (Fabien Henry) and Nouvelle-Calédonie (Vincent Portugal / Ronan Dreano / Bernard Mallaret). Current leader Courrier Dunkerque (Daniel Souben) is still in the lead, but only ten points ahead of Deruelle!

Toulon Provence Méditerranée – COYCHyères (Fabien Henry) is back in the match
“It was a bit hard for us in the first race… we expected the wind to get down, so we didn’t choose the right sail, and could hardly control our boats leeward. Hopefully we kept going, and finished tenth. This first race was like a warning for us, so we were 100% for the following races” explains Fabien Henry. Toulon Provence Méditerranée – COYCHyères ranked third and second in the last races.

Elcimaï – Ville de Marseille (Dimitri Deruelle) keeps on with regularity
Elcimaï – Ville de Marseille (Dimitri Deruelle), second in the overall ranking, ranked twice sixth, and won the last leg. “It is a good day for us. In such weather conditions, it is hard to increase the difference between us and our opponents. Globally I’d say that we won more than we did loose, which is a good thing”.

Ville du Port – Région Réunion (Gabriel Jean-Albert) won the first leg of the day
First in the first buoy, the crew from La Réunion remained first from one end to the other of the race. “There was a good breeze today, and we enjoy such weather conditions. We went on the right side of the sailing area. After that we only had to stay in place”. Twentieth in the next race, ninth in the last one, “this was a good day for us” !

Amateur and student crews manage to do good performances
After Ville du Port – Région Réunion (Gabriel Jean-Albert) won the first race, another amateur crew rounded the first buoy of the next leg ahead: BRED Ile Verte (Sylvain Chtounder) only remained a few moments in the lead, and finally ranked eighth. As far as the students are concerned, VanUden TUDelft VanOord (Suzanne Leinders / Michiel Van der Meulen) keeps on improving, and caught up two places in the overall ranking. Brest Grandes Ecoles ENSIETA ESC (Loïc Le Garrec) ranked second in the second race of the day: “we managed to stay in the same place all the time. It’s a relief because we were a bit out of the game these days… now we are going to try and finish second in the student ranking!” says helmsman Alan Le Calvez. It’s not going to be easy as INSA – Sopra Group (Simon Troel) is still fifty-five points ahead!

The boats will sail more inshore races tomorrow in front of Port-Barcarès, before leaving for Marseille at 7pm.