Grand Prix de France de Course au Large a Volley of arrivals, more winners on their way

THE DRHEAM-CUP / GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE DE COURSE AU LARGE saw a lively day on Friday 19 July, with boats finishing and some great final battles for the podiums in the different categories.

Quiberon Bay was decked out in its finest summer attire on Friday 19 July to welcome the first big wave of arrivals in the fifth edition of the DRHEAM-CUP / GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE DE COURSE AU LARGE. The first to cross the line at the entrance of La Trinité-sur-Mer harbour was ORC 50 GDD (Bruno Jacob), at 01:16 am on Thursday night. He finished second multihull in real time behind Drekan Energy (Eric Defert), who arrived the previous night, but, in the provisional rankings, is the winner on corrected time in the Multi 2000 class ahead of Minor Swing (Didier Bouillard) and ACapella-Proludic-La chaîne de l'espoir (Charlie Capelle).

As for the monohulls, after the arrival of real-time winner Teasing Machine (Eric de Turckheim) on Thursday afternoon, the suspense was unabated until very end to see who would finish second on the line (and first in IRC 1). A decisive battle was fought in Quiberon Bay between the Dutch crew on Moana (Frans Van Cappelle), who came back thanks to a northern route between the DRHEAM-CUP mark and Quiberon Bay, Fastwave 6 (Eric Fries) and Stamina Sailing Team (Charlie Ageneau). It was won by Fastwave 6, who arrived at 10:29, 57 seconds ahead of Moana. Stamina Sailing Team finished just under half an hour behind their two rivals, but on corrected time, Moana should come out on top.

"We often saw Fastwave 6 on AI'S (radar that allows you to see your competitors in a restricted perimeter), sometimes we lost them, and all of a sudden they were back at the end of the race. It was fun, the end was a match-race, it was a great race", said Moana's skipper, Frans Van Cappelle and his crew Michelle Witsenburg at the finish. What was their secret? "We're used to sailing with women, but this is the first time we've sailed with a 100% mixed crew, and it worked out really well, she continued. I prepared fresh meals, the crew told me it was great for morale and it was more like a holiday camp than a regatta! Obviously it was a success!”

On Fastwave 6, Jean-Philippe Cau was also delighted with the intensity of the four-day battle with Moana and Stamina Sailing Team. "We raced all the way against Stamina, they passed us twice, we managed overtake them twice, it was nice to always have a boat in our sight. Moana went under the radar, and big surprise, they reappeared on the AIS half a mile ahead of us when we arrived near Belle-Ile. We were a bit disappointed, we managed to get back ahead in real time, but as we owe them three hours in compensated time, they're well ahead. Well done to them!”

Jean-Philippe Cau, as well as being a crew member on Eric Fries' JPK 1180, chairs Lorient Grand Large and co-organises the Cap Martinique, added, speaking of the DRHEAM-CUP / GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE DE COURSE AU LARGE: "This type of race is ideal to learn cross-ocean racing. For those who want to go further, on Class40 or two-handed on the Cap Martinique and the Transquadra, it is important to go through this learning curve. Well done to Jacques Civilise, (the organiser) to have created the DRHEAM-CUP, which was needed in the race landscape.”

After the IRC 1s, it was the turn of the first double-handed IRCs to cross the finish line in La Trinité-sur-Mer early yesterday afternoon, with Red Ruby (Jonathan McKee/Will Harris) arriving at 13:15 - he had an hour's penalty at the start in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin for crossing the line too early, AxeSail by Issartel/Sarbacane (Maxime Mesnil/Hugo Feydit), who finished at 13:49, 2 minutes and 27 seconds ahead of Bellino, skippered by Rob Craigie and Debbie Fish the first woman to be elected Commodore of the prestigious Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC).

"It was a great competition, commented the experienced Jonathan McKee, the Flying Dutchman Olympic champion in Los Angeles 40 years ago.The level in the IRC two-handed class was very high, will a good mix of the French and English fleets. We really enjoyed ourselves, the race was interesting, with changeable weather, upwind, reaching and downwind runs at the end and good tactical challenges to negotiate high pressure zones. Will Harris did a great job getting us ahead.”

But in the end, when it comes down to penalties and IRC ratings, the Maxime Mesnil/Hugo Feydit duo should win the two-handed IRC class (and perhaps IRC overall), which should satisfy Maxime, a member of the Cherbourg Yacht Club, one of France's leading match-racing specialists and clearly equally comfortable in offshore races. "We're happy, we did a good job with Hugo, we prepared well for the crossing of the high pressure ridge after the DRHEAM-CUP waypoint. We took the time to examine the weather before, and we are happy with our choices and the boat. During the entire race, we kept gaining places, it was great.”

Groupe Snef (Xavier Macaire) has crossed the finish line at 20h4'57'' and Swift (Jack Trigger) have arrived at 22h23'10'' yesterday night (Friday 19). After a long battle, the Groupe Snef managed to get ahead on Thursday when they opted for a route closer to the Breton coast. The winner in the Sun Fast 30 OD class (SL Energies Group), a new one design class launched this year, took line honours this Saturday morning at 04h51'54''.

IN SAILORS WORDS:

Will Harris (Red Ruby, IRC two-handed): "It was my first time racing in the DRHEAM-CUP and it was a great race, like a leg of the Solitaire du Figaro. There was a bit of everything, reaching, upwind, downwind, we had a lot of wind then calms... We sailed very close with the rest of the fleet and managed to cross the line first, but we're going to be overtaken in the overall ranking. It was great to sail with someone like Jonathan, I was able to discover another way of sailing, it was so cool for me to have that experience.”

Eric Fries (Fastwave 6, IRC 1): "It was a very pleasant race, with an extremely varied course, great organisation, we really felt welcomed. It is one of the best organised races I have known. We had an issue with satellite reception, so we sailed with the files we had at the start, and once we rounded the DRHEAM-CUP way-point, they weren't much use. We went too far south, and should have gone North, although we limited the damage because we were fast, it wasn't enough to win.”