(La Rochelle, France)- Hosted by Societe de Regate Rochelais (SSR) in La
Rochelle, France, fifteen teams competed in the J/70 Coupe de France
Regatta. The fleet was met by very challenging conditions all weekend
long, mostly windy, showers, clouds and very uncharacteristic La
Rochelle bay conditions! In the end, after three days of racing and
seven races completed, it was the Spanish team of GOLD SAILING that won
the regatta by just one point!On Friday, the first day of racing, it was heavy winds, big winds and grey skies. The conditions favored the heavier crews. Winning the first race was Herve Leduc’s JIBE SET with crew of Fabian Pic, Stephane Barraux and Mikael Garrett. Second was Bruno James’ French crew on LE McDONALDS CHERBOURG and third was Iker & Almandoz Ortiglia’s GOLD SAILING from Spain. While the Race Committee at SSR was preparing to run the second race, the winds rapidly increased to 25 to 30 kts plus, so wisely canceled racing for the rest of the day.
For
the second day of racing, it was more clouds, but this time it was an
onshore breeze of 12 kts that gradually increased to 20 kts by the end
of the day. It was great sailing for everyone, with four races being
run, much to the delight of all the crews. McDONALDS CHERBOURG won the
first race, then Leduc’s JIBE SET won the second and third races, then
GOLD SAILING won the fourth race of the day. The racing was very tight
amongst the top five boats.On the final day, more good breezes. By winning the first race, GOLD SAILING Spanish crew (Iker and Ortigala Almandoz, Borja Sumalac, and Iraeta Sanhez) won the event since they could now include a toss-race in their scores. Taking second for the event was Leduc’s JIBE SET crew (Fabian Pic, Stephane Barraux, Mikael Garrett) just one point back. Third was McDONALDS CHERBOURG led by Bruno James and crew (Sebastien Metivier, Christian Potier, & Hugues Dorriere) with 19 pts. The balance of the top five included Laurent Sambron’s crew on HEMON CAMUS (Jean-Yves Jaffrezic, Benjamin Diouris, Pierre-Yves Tinel, & Brewal Nael) with 22 pts in 4th place and Cyrille Teston’s J BEC.RE crew (Jean Francios Nevo, Didier Le Moal, & Bruno Gandolphe) in 5th position.
Top woman skipper was Maxime Baudry’s crew on TEAM WINDS LA ROCHELLE (Etienne Mabit, Frederic Bouvier, Jean Francois Cruette, & Clara Fortin) in 6th position overall. J/70 sailing photo gallery here- credits- Antoine Brule For more J/70 Coupe de France sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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