The Drheam-Cup: Grand Prix de France de Course au Large: let the party begin

The DRHEAM-CUP / GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE DE COURSE AU LARGE village officially opened its doors on Thursday 11 July at 10:00 am On the programme, five days of fun and activities, concerts, the prologue (DHREAM-TROPHY) on Saturday, with the Rêves de Large operation, the screening of the Euro 2024 football final, followed by the 14th July fireworks display, before the start of the race to La Trinité-sur-Mer on Monday at 16:30.

The kick-off of the fifth edition of LA DRHEAM-CUP / GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE DE COURSE AU LARGE was given on Thursday morning at 10:00 am, with the official opening of the race village, on the Plage Verte, above the Port Chantereyne basins. An opportunity to celebrate, supported by Benoît Arrivé, mayor of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, Jacques Civilise, founder and organiser of the race and several town councillors, the Cotentin Council, the Manche Département and the Normandy Region, the town of La Trinité-sur-Mer, the Auray Quiberon Terre Atlantique council and the Morbihan Département, all the local councils who are partners of the event.

Like in each edition since the first in 2016, the "competition, sharing, celebration" motto with be the leitmotif of LA DRHEAM-CUP / GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE DE COURSE AU LARGE. Competition, once again, with an outstanding line-up, both in quality and quantity, since this year close to 90 entrants representing 11 different nationalities, promise great naval action on two courses (DC 600 and DC 1000) and in seven categories..

Sharing, since the DRHEAM-TROPHY, the prologue starting on Saturday 13 July at 14:00, will once again host the Rêves de Large operation. Launched during the first edition, the programme consists in inviting 25 young people from the area surrounding the start port to race in the DRHEAM-TROPHY on boats taking part in the competition. “Our young people need dreams and adventure and I wanted a race that promotes human relations and sharing between generations", explains Jacques Civilise. This explains the ideas behind the Rêves de Large initiative, allowing teenagers the opportunity to discover the world of offshore racing from the inside, with professional or amateur skippers, from the moment the boat leaves the port to the prizegiving ceremony, including the start sequence and passing the buoys.”

In this fifth edition, two groups of young people aged 11 to 15 will take part, the first from youth centres in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin and the second in partnership with the Cotentin Council, which manages the local sailing centres. The lucky participants will embark and be asked to contribute on the 25 boats whose skippers accepted to share their knowledge, some of them big names in the field, from Xavier Macaire (Groupe Snef) to Francis Joyon (Océans), including Marc Guillemot (Wellness Training/MG5), Eric de Turckheim (Teasing Machine), Alexandre Le Gallais (Trim Control) or Emmanuel Hamez (Viranga).

These notions of sharing and transmission are also meaningful to Cherbourg-en-Cotentin which, on the day of the DRHEAM-CUP/GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE DE COURSE AU LARGE village opening, on 11 July, will also welcome the prizegiving of the penultimate leg of the 39th edition of the Tour des Ports de la Manche, the Département's flagship yacht race, bringing together 85 crews, as well as the Junior French Championships, organised from 6 July by the Normandy Sailing League, for 400 young people aged 12 to 14!

With regards to celebration, the many visitors expected at the start of the summer holidays in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin will be delighted, since the organisers and the city have organised a comprehensive programme that will be to everyone's taste. In the official village, which will welcome associations and a food court, many free and fun activities will be organised, with an inflatable whale and Borgnefesse's pirate ship complete with zipline for kids, an "escape game" for families to discover the secrets of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, first dives and sailing on a J80.

A celebration also means music, with concerts and DJ sets every evening and a big blind-test team quiz on Saturday 13 July at 19:30, presented by a live band. Of course, Bastille Day on the 14 July means the traditional firework display on Sunday evening, which can be watched from the Plage Verte, just after the giant screen broadcast of the Euro 2024 final in a fanzone that can host up to 8000 people!

On Monday 15 July, competition will be back with the start of the fifth edition of the DRHEAM CUP / GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE DE COURSE AU LARGE at 16:30, heading to La Trinité-sur-Mer, where the first boats will be expected after two days of racing. Like in previous editions, virtual racing fans will be able to take the start on Virtual Regatta Offshore, once again the official game for the DRHEAM-CUP / GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE DE COURSE AU LARGE.