(Pornic, France)- In the beginning of August, the sailors of Pornic look
forward to their annual "pilgrimage" (a.k.a. race) over to Gijon, Spain
for some fun, sun and frolic with their friends across the big,
boisterous Bay of Biscay. It's a race that can be an easy, fast reach
across the southeastern corner of the Bay of Biscay, or it can be nasty,
wet, extremely lumpy blast under reefed sails in yet another notorious
Biscay gale. For the eighteen sailing teams that participated this
year, it was very much benign summer conditions with light winds and
sunshine on the water- "thanks" the the race organizers (Ville de
Pornic, the League of Pays de la Loire and NPC) for the "postcard-like,
chamber of commerce" conditions!It's a challenging race no matter how you slice it. Leaving Pornic (a quaint seashore village near Nantes) you basically sail due south-southwest towards the spectacular northern coast of Spain, aiming for Gijon (a sweet seaside town west of the famous town of Santander). This year, the J/Teams swept IRC Overall taking the top three and five of the top ten!
In the reaching conditions, the J/105 proved it can still hang in there with the latest IRC hardware, with J/Y CROIS PAS (in sympathy for the Tostivint family) winning. Second was the J/109 TILI-K sailed by Alain Belveze with guest star Paul Chiron (of French multihull fame aboard). Third was another J/109- J'VOLE CN PORNIC sailed by Philippe Barouch. Sixth was yet another J/109, GUEFFIER IMMOBILIER skippered by Cyrille Gueffier and Antoine Gouin. Then, ninth was the new J/111 ALPHALINK led by Alain Duvivier.
As anticipated, the teams were treated to amazing hospitality in Gijon. The fleet enjoyed an evening soiree at Habana Club, well known to sailors, and an evening at the Casino de Gijon with plenty of delicious Spanish "tapas" and tasty, chilly sangrias! Sailing photo credis- Tim Wright/ Photoaction.com. For more Pornic Offshore Race sailing information
