(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- A favorite of the RORC offshore sailing
community is the annual Cowes-Dinard-St Malo Race. After starting off
the famous Royal Yacht Squadron starting line, the fleet heads off
around a 150nm triangle that ends up in St Malo, France- a wonderful
seaside town on the north coast of France steeped in history and a place
that offers the weary sailors delicious seafood delicacies enhanced by
the equally impressive wines from the local vineyards.The big story for this year’s race were the fact that two J’s swept the top two spots both overall and in IRC 2 Class. The overall winner of the race was Eric Gicquel's J/133 BLACK JACK skippered by Nils Boyer. François Lognoné's J/122 NUTMEG- SPARKLING CHARTER, also from St.Malo, was second.
Nils Boyer, BLACK JACK’s skipper, was born in St.Malo and, under the tutelage of Franck-Yves Escoffier, is one of the rising stars in French solo sailing. Nils Boyer's goal is to participate in the Route Du Rhum and his dream is to win the transatlantic race that starts from his hometown of St.Malo. Nils Boyer will be racing across the Atlantic this November in L'eau de là, from St.Malo to Guadeloupe, West Indies.
"Winning the Cowes-Dinard-St.Malo is magical," smiled Nils. "BLACK JACK is a young team all from the Sociéte Nautique de la Baie de St Malo and the champagne will be flowing with all our family and friends tonight. I have been part of teams that have won a class in the race on four occasions but this is the first time that I have won the trophy overall. L'eau de là is an association of young sailors, 16-20 years of age, and to win this prestigious trophy in our home town is fantastic".
IRC Two was highly competitive with J/Teams taking five of the top seven spots. The top seven yachts finished the 150 mile race within half an hour after time correction. BLACK JACK was the winner with J/122 NUTMEG- SPARKLING CHARTER second and fourth was Ian Dewhirst’s J/133 JUMP. Sixth was Nigel Passmore’s J/133 APOLLO 7 and eighth was Chris Radford’s J/122 RELENTLESS ON JELLYFISH.
IRC Three was the largest class with 22 yachts competing and there was less than an hour on corrected time between the winner and 14th place. J/teams enjoyed the conditions, taking 4 of the top 10 places. Taking 6th in class was Nick Martin’s J/105 DIABLO-J (they also took 6th in IRC Double-handed class). Eighth in class was Chris Palmer’s J/109 J-T’AIME, ninth was Fred Nadaud’s J/105 VERONIKA and tenth was Kevin Armstrong’s JAZZY JELLYFISH.
In IRC Four the top eight yachts were all from France, including Francois Boue's J/109, FIROUZEH 4 taking the bronze and in eighth was Jean-Pierre Briand’s J/97 JJ L’AMOROSSO. For more RORC Cowes-Dinard-St Malo Race sailing information
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