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Tour de France à la voile

Force EDC claims their first victory

vendredi 26 juillet 2002 – Information Tour Voile

Only two races have been sailed today outside Hyères after a long postponement due to lack of wind. The light shifty airs meant that the fleet was always quite split but it suited certain boats that were able to read the shifts first and do well. Student boat Force EDC, skippered by Australia’s Simon Sutherland claimed their first victory in the first race. The team comprised of Aussies, Brits and a Dutch girl have climbed back in the top ten as they’re now in 9th overall and increased their margin lead in the student division.


Those light air conditions also seemed to suit Rob Greenhalgh’s Panther Team GBR, who normally prefer good breeze, as they finished in third. In the second race, the two foreign boats showed form again as Panther Team GBR scored their second victory and Force EDC came home in second. Simon Sutherland commented on this good day : "We had a very good day. We had good starts, we had the speed with us, both upwind and downwind, we had good tactics and went the right. The crew did excellent work as well. We made a few change in the rig as we hadn’t been fast in the Med’s light air up to now.

It was very shifty but we were lucky to have good starts as with those conditions, once you got in front it was easy to stay in front and increase the lead".

The guys onboard Panther Team GBR were also pleased with their results today. "Panther was on fire today. We had good speed especially as at times the wind was coming from two sides. In the first race it was about being in the leading pack and being conservative. Basically toady we maintained our position in light and fiddly winds. In both races we had good starts, which meant we got solid result. We had solid results and extended".

As for the top three overall, positions have changed once again. It was a bad day for Etienne David’s Ville de Genève Carrefour Prévention who lost the red spinnaker after scoring a disappointing 18th position in the second race.

Nantes-St-Nazaire, skippered by Pierre Loic Berthet finished in 10th and 3rd and is therefore leading overall again. Though he finished in 17th position in the first race, Jimmy Pahun’s Région Ile de France has climbed up to second place after scoring a 4th place in the second race.

The guys from Nantes were all happy as they stepped off their boat. "It was shifty and stress full conditions but for us it was a good day. There was lots of tension though as the top three boats have now started the hostilities. I hope it keeps on going well for us", commented Pierre-Loïc Berthet, the skipper of Nantes-St-Nazaire.

Tonight a protest will be heard in the jury room with Région Ile de France protesting Ville de Genève Carrefour Prévention. This is the first time the top three will protest one of the other top three with significant ramifications. The results of this hearing could really change the leader board.

Tomorrow the fleet will take to the water for the final offshore of this regatta. The race to Nice will finish in the final stopover of the 2002 Tour de France à la Voile.

Isabelle Musy

Overall results before jury with one discard
– 1. Nantes-St-Nazaire / Pierre Loic Berthet 1644 points
– 2. Région Ile de France / Jimmy Pahun 1633 points
– 3. Ville de Genève Carrefour Prévention / Etienne David 1629,75 points
– 4. Panther Team GBR / Rob Greenhalgh 1508 points
– 5. Défi Partagé / Thierry Bouchard 1487,75 points
– 6. Marseille / Dimitri Deruelle 1445,5 points
– 7. Ville d’Antibes –NEC / Julien Farnarier 1437 points
– 8. Dieppe-Seine Maritime / Gildas Philippe 1429 points
– 9. Force EDC / Simon Sutherland 1426,5 points (1st student boat)
– 10. Côtes d’Armor Toztes Voiles dehors / Vincent Biarnes 1398 points

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