Pellissier Tops J/80s, Sambron Eclipses J/70s, MAJIC Dusts J/24s(Crouesty de Arzon, France)- Blessed with better than average sailing conditions over all three days of the regatta, the Yacht Club du Crouesty Arzon did a fantastic job of hosting their famous annual regatta- the Grand Prix du Crouesty.
With such great conditions, the sailing off Port Navalo on the Baie de Morbihan saw the YCCA able to get in as many as a dozen races for some fleets! Both the J/70s and J/24s were hosting their French National Championships and the J/80s were sailing the next act in the season long Coupe de France J/80 series.
Perhaps the big surprise was the outstanding performance of Laurent Sempron’s HEMON CAMUS in the eleven boats J/70 class. It is evident that his long-term success in the J/80 class was a great background for sailing the 70s. Starting out by winning the first race, Sambron’s crew won all but one race to close out the series with just 8 pts. As a result, Sambron’s crew are declared the first French J/70 National Champions! Behind them, it was a close contest for the top five. Taking 2nd overall was Gwenael Thomas’ OUEST GREEMENT with 21 pts net and the only other boat to win a race. Third place was Francois Dore’s CELE’J from EV Rochelaises with 25 pts net- they are from the homeport for the upcoming J/70 World Championships. Fourth was Pierre Ducom’s ENER-J with 27 pts net and fifth place was taken by Thomas Mellano’s PAPREC RECYCLAGE LE HAVRE NAUTIC.
There
was a good turnout for the J/80s, with twenty-two boats vying for good
positions in their overall season series. Sailing at a very high level
all season long has been Sylvain Pellissier’s VOILERIE ALL PURPOSE
team. After winning the first two races with ease, Pellissier’s team
put their boat on “cruise control” and posted the rest of their scores
in the top five to win with just 12 pts net. Not giving a millimeter,
but just never able to close the gap on Pellissier’s fast & smart
team was past French J/80 National Champion, Eric Brezellec on COURRIER
JUNIOR. After posting two seconds in as many races, they could do
nothing to close the gap with Pellissier, having to settle for second
overall with 17 pts net. Sailing one of their better regattas in recent
memory was Luc Nadal’s crew on GAN’JA, collecting a 2-1-2 in his
scoreline to secure third overall with 26 pts. The balance of the top
five include Adrien Mouillon’s APCC TJM in 4th place and Marc Noesmoen’s
TEAM VENDEE in fifth. Compared to their J one-design colleagues in the 70s and 80s classes, the French J/24 Nationals saw a very closely fought contest for the top three. The three contenders- Francois De Herce’s MAJIC, Aorelian Garcia’s INSULARIS and Phillippe Boudgourd’s FIL D’O- were essentially tied after six races. With two more races to go, it would be a horse race to see which team would top the winner’s circle. At this stage, it was apparent that MAJIC was ready to get the job done, posting a closing score of double bullets to win with 12 pts net. Sailing nearly as well was INSULARIS, but their 2-3 was only good enough for 2nd place with 15 pts net. Finally, just about falling off their race horse must have been FIL D’O’s crew, their 5-2 dropped them out of contention into 3rd place overall with 18 pts net. It was fun, close racing for this trio. Taking 4th was Charles Gury’s JINETTE and in 5th was Pierre Antoine’s MARTA. For more Grand Prix du Crouesty France sailing information
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