“The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing” Does It Again!(La Trinite sur Mer, France)- On April 30, between the two rounds of the French Presidential election, professional and amateur sailors went sailing on the Bay of Quiberon to race in their fabled Round Belle-Ile race- the VIII edition, so far.
The Tour de Belle-Ile has become the biggest sailing event in all of France based on the number of the sailboats- over 450 entries across 15+ classes. The event has become a classic, a fixture at the beginning of the French summer sailing season. Numerous J/teams have participated in this family-friendly event, a simple large starting line, sail out around the island, keeping it to port, and finish back off the sea-buoy off the harbor La Trinite sur Mer. The Maxi offshore multihulls, of course, the famous ones like SODEBO, etc, blast around the track in less than 2 hours. As for the rest, it is treated as a somewhat “competitive picnic with the family”!
Here is how it all took place on a sunny afternoon on the Bay of Quiberon. In the IRC 1 class with 17 boats, it was Eric Gicquel’s J/133 GICQUEL ASSOCIATES from Societe Baie St Malo that took 6th in class.
In
the highly competitive IRC 2 class with 15 boats, Cyril Penvern’s
J/112E J/LANCE 12 took first, with Philippe Baetz’s J/112E MUSIX from
Societe Nautique Trinite sur Mer taking third. For many, it was the
dominating performance of the J/112E’s that took everyone by surprise.
While some believe the J/112E’s performance in the SPI OUEST France
regatta was weather condition specific, the performance of the J/112E in
offshore conditions with reaching and running and jib-only scenarios in
the Belle-Ile race demonstrated the boat’s amazing versatility to
perform in a wide-variety of sailing conditions under the IRC Class
rating rule.In OSIA A Class with 34 entries, the J/crews nearly swept the top five places. Winning was Patrice Vidon’s J/111 J4F from Societe Regate Douarnenez; followed by Rodolphe Marchais’ J/122 JOLLY JOKER in second from SN Trinite s/Mer; in fourth was Frederic Guillemot’s J/105 GUILLEMOT from SN Trinite s/Mer; and 5th place was Stephane Blanchard’s J/111 LE JOUET. Follow the Tour de Belle-Ile Facebook page For more Tour de Belle-Ile sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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