Drheam Cup Grand Prix de France de Course au Large: celebrating diversity, history and talent

Lorient, for the first time arrival port of the DRHEAM-CUP/GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE DE COURSE AU LARGE, has a long history of welcoming great sailors, celebrated on Saturday in the Taverne Lancelot in La Base village, honouring the winners a race that marked its tenth anniversary in style, as well as the 80th birthday of its founder, Jacques Civilise.

The record number of participants was broken, with 106 boats at the start on 11 July in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, racing around three courses, and 86 at the finish. The ORMA, Arkéa-Handicap International, skippered by Damien Seguin and Gérald Véniard, was the first to cross the line on Tuesday 14 July at 05:24 and was awarded line honours on the DC 600 course. Class40 Yoda (Yohan Bertrand) was the last, arriving on Saturday at 05:14 after 6 days, 17 hours and 44 minutes at sea.

As with every edition, this DRHEAM-CUP/FRENCH OFFSHORE RACING GRAND PRIX celebrated the diversity that is so important to Jacques Civilise. Anne-Claire Le Berre (Upwind by MerConcept), who came second in the Ocean Fifty class, made her mark on the race, becoming the first woman to achieve this result in a solo race in the class. The Women’s Trophy was awarded to Véronique Ansel, skipper of Groupe 5, with an exclusively female crew.

The Youth Trophy was awarded to the youngest competitor in the race (aged 20), Titouan Pilliard (Use it Again for Youth), who finished second in the Vintage Mono class. Proof that there is no age for winning the DRHEAM-CUP/GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE DE COURSE AU LARGE – there is a 55-year age gap between the youngest winner, Basile Bourgnon (aged 24), who won hands down in the Ocean Fifty class on Edenred, and Halvard Mabire, who, at the age of 69, added another victory to his long list, finishing first in the Vintage Multi class on his catamaran GDD.

As always, foreign sailors also excelled, the Swiss national Alan Roura was first to cross the line in the IRC Crewed class on the Volvo 70 Ocean Breeze-Majorica, Italian Giulio di Gennaro, came third in the IRC double-handed class aboard the Figaro 2 Auremat, and DMS Vinyl's British crew (led by David Summers), came second in the Multi 2000 class. Italian sailor Luca Rosetti (Maccaferri Futura), one of the race’s outstanding skippers in the Class40 category, ultimately finished fourth.

This DRHEAM-CUP/GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE DE COURSE AU LARGE also celebrated the history of offshore racing: a survivor of the 1996 Vendée Globe, Raphaël Dinelli took second place in the Multi 2000 class on DMS Vinyl, after he was invited by his saviour from thirty years ago,  British sailor Pete Goss. Two winners, Tanguy Caradec (Vintage Mono on Eurvad) and Basile Bourgnon, followed in the footsteps of their late fathers, Loïc and Laurent. Legendary boats also made their mark, like Loïck Peyron's former Fujicolor II, sailed hard by Damien Seguin; the Mythical Cigare Rouge, second in the IRC Crewed class (and winner in IRC 1) skippered by the renowned Sidney Gavignet, or the ever-young Acapella-Proludic-La Chaine de l'Espoir, well maintained by Charlie Capelle, who will take the start of his eighth Route du Rhum on 1st November and came fourth in the Multi 2000 category. The skipper is a living legend of the DRHEAM-CUP/GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE DE COURSE AU LARGE, since he has taken part in all editions!

Talent was, of course, also in the spotlight at the prizegiving ceremony, from Corentin Douguet (SNSM, Faites un don!), winner in the Class40 after a nail-biting battle lasting over four and a half days, to the Alban Mesnil/Jérôme Aubert duo who won in real and compensated time in IRC Double-handed on the JPK 1010 Abracadabra soutient Don Bosco, as well as Laurent Charmy, who two years after winning in the Sun Fast 30 OD class did it again, this time in IRC Crewed, and was overall and IRC 2 winner on his JPK 10.80 SL Energies V1D2.

A true "Field of stars", to quote Pierre Keszler, skipper of the JPK 1050 Karavel, which prompted Jacques Civilise – honoured on stage following the prize-giving ceremony – to say: “This anniversary edition of the DRHEAM-CUP/GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE DE COURSE AU LARGE was very much in keeping with previous editions, and I would like to thank all the participants – whether they crossed the finish line or not, whether they finished on the podium or not – for giving us a week of competition, sharing and celebration – values that have been close to our hearts ever since the very first event in 2016.” See you in 2028 for another edition!