LA GENERALI MEDITERRANEE
14-28 JUNE 2003
RACE 6 : PORT CARMARGUE-BEAULIEU
DISTANCE : 190 MILES
CONDITIONS : Start 10 knots W/ mistral conditions
40+ knot gusts / lights airs
SKANDIA BEATS FIGARO
CHAMPION IN BEST RESULT YET...
IN BRIEF:
*
Sam Davies (SKANDIA) scores best result of competition...in
longest offshore leg of La Generali Méditerranée,
34 hours of sleepless, demanding, solo racing.
*
3rd PLACED ROOKIE, TWO PLACES AHEAD OF 2001 SOLITAIRE
DU FIGARO CHAMPION - , and 13th out of the 32
boat fleet. 'Droug' was also leading the event
before this leg.
*
Contrasting conditions for the Figaro fleet...full
on Mistral conditions with 40 knot gusts early
on, to absolutely no wind first night: "I
was pretty nervous before the start knowing that
we might be seeing 50 knot gusts out there...it
was on the edge sometimes... Everything was fully
loaded up - couldn't leave the tiller..."...below
Sam talks about the physical hurt of racing like
this for 34 hours alone...
*
SKANDIA was the third highest placed rookie in
this race and moves up two places overall into
24th and up two places to sixth place in the rookie
standings.
*
Erwan Tabarly on Thales won the Port Camargue-Beaulieu
leg after 33 hours and 55 minutes of racing ahead
of Gildas Morvan on Cercle Vert who has now taken
the overall lead by 10 points from Eric Drouglazet
who has dropped to 4th overall after a 15th place
finish on this leg.
*
Incredibly close racing right to the end...Thales
crossed the line at 20h55, one hour later 24th
placed Daniel Dupont crossed at 21h54.
*
Today is a lay day for the skippers before a short
35-mile offshore leg tomorrow from Beaulieu to
Impéria - forecast is for light airs...
IN DETAIL:
Sam
Davies racing SKANDIA scored her best result after
six days of competition, scoring a 13th place
in the longest offshore race of La Generali Méditerranée.
Davies finished two places higher than Eric Drouglazet
- overall leader before this leg and 2001 Solitaire
du Figaro champion. The 32 boat fleet left Port
Camargue at 11h00 on Wednesday morning to race
190 miles eastwards towards Beaulieu-sur-Mer...the
fleet were expected to arrive yesterday around
midday but lack of serious wind yesterday turned
it into a marathon leg. The winning boat - Erwan
Tabarly's Thales - finished late yeserday evening
after 33 hours and 55 minutes of racing.
Before
the start on Wednesday the forecast was scary
- downwind racing in mistral conditions with potential
for 50 knot gusts daunting even for a crewed boat,
solo it's on the edge... "In the end it wasn't
too bad although I was pretty nervous," said
Davies. "I knew it was going to be windy
as Meeno (SKANDIA's German weather router) had
forecasted 50 knot gusts but all I got was sustained
35 knots so that was fine but we were on the edge
a lot of the time. I just kept hoping the wind
would not increase or get really gusty because
then I might have been forced to drop SKANDIA's
spinnaker which would have been dangerous... Everything
was fully loaded up and I couldn't leave the tiller
for very long - I stayed low so I didn't have
to gybe. Some guys didn't have kites up or had
problems so we overtook loads of people - and
we were fast!"
SKANDIA's
good downwind leg put her with the middle of the
fleet as the early morning positions showed but
it was after Toulon that Davies made real gains:
"I tacked out and went offshore off Porquerolles,"
said Davies. " When I tacked back in I had
caught up with the leading pack - I was surprised
they had gone inside. The leading pack always
stick together and defend where they are, very
rarely does anyone split so it is hard to do anything
different but sometimes it pays." Certainly,
Davies decision to go offshore at Porquerolles
paid off - SKANDIA was up with the leading pack
and it was a position Davies managed to maintain
for the duration of the race.
"In
the final 20 miles to the finish along the coast
of Cap d'Antibes I was right with the leaders,"
said Davies. "At one point I might have even
been in the lead as the wind was shifting around
all over the place! It was light and shifty and
after 30 hours of racing it was really hard to
concentrate and not fall asleep. I had been awake
all the time and was physically knackered from
the first day...everything was hurting. It was
hot with little breeze and you know you are getting
frazzled but you don't want to leave the tiller
even to get a bottle of water as you know you
could be risking a place. We were so close to
the other boats and when you are at the front
with the leaders you have better boat speed to
match so you push harder all the time."
SKANDIA
arrived at Beaulieu-sur-Mer at approximately 21h20
(local time) after 34 hours of racing.
Two
DNFs Christophe Bouvet (SOR TMC) and Stéphane
Sevaux (Plus Pharmacie).
PERFORMANCE PARTNER OF THE DAY: SKANDIA is equipped
with Marlow Ropes latest technology...http://www.samdavies.com/marlow
RESULTS - RACE 1/2/3/4/5/6 - 20 JUNE:
(Skipper/boat name/race result/overall position/total
points)
NB: double points scored for offshore legs
Gildas
Morvan / CERCLE VERT / 3-3-2-4-8-2 / 1st overall
(26 points) Erwan Tabarly / THALES / 8-8-3-2-6-1
/ 2nd overall (34 points) Armel Le Cleac'h / CREALINE
/ 1-1-11-6-1-4 / 3rd overall (39 points) Eric
Drouglazet / DAVID OLIVER / 4-4-1-1-2-15 / 4th
overall (43 points) Jérémie Beyou
/ DELTA DORE / 2-5-8-3-3-8 / 5th overall (49 points)
Laurent Pellecuer / AON / 17-2-6-7-15-3 / 6th
overall (59 points) Gilles Chiorri / METEO CONSULT
GROUPE / 14-9-9-9-9-5 / 7th overall (69 points)
Charles Caudrelier Benac / BOSTIK FINDLEY / 11-18-18-5-5-6
8th overall (87 points) Sébastien Audigane
/ E LECLERC / 12-6-5-10-7-21 / 9th overall (87
points) Yann Elies / GROUPE GENERALI ASSURANCES
/ 5-7-22-8-4-14 / 10th overall (96 points) Samantha
Davies* / SKANDIA / 20-27-30-23-24-13 / 24th overall
(181 points)
*
Newcomer to event or in French "Bizuth"
ie rookie
ROOKIE
STANDINGS:
Franck-Yves Escoffier / CREPES WHAOU! (133 points)
Christophe Artaud / PETITS-PETONS (134 points)
Yves Le Blevec / REVE DE GRAND - ACTUAL INTERIM
(141 points) Christopher Pratt / CAFE MALONGO
(142 points) Marc Emig / IN EXTREMIS (149 points)
Samantha Davies / SKANDIA (181 points) Christophe
Bouvet / SOR TMC (187 points) Stéphane
Sevaux / PLUS PHARMACIE (211 points) Corrado Agusta
/ SECTOR SPORT WATCHES (216 points) Eric Pilat
/ ALTAVENTURE/SNSM (217 points) Sander Bakker
/ STERN GROEP (229 points)
For further information on La Générali
Médierranée please visit http://www.generalimed.com
Course:
Friday 20 June-Lay day
Saturday 21 June-Offshore leg 3-Beaulieu-Impéria-Start
11h00 Sunday 22 June-Offshore leg 4-Impéria-Hyeres-Start
11h00 Monday 23 June-Offshore leg 4-Arrive Hyeres
Tuesday 24 June-Offshore leg 5-Hyeres-Porquerolles-Start
11h00 Wednesday 25 June-Lay day Thursday 26 June-Inshore
race 3-Porquerolles-Start 11h00 Friday 27 June-Inshore
race 4-Porquerolles-Start 11h00 Saturday 28 June-Inshore
race 5-Porquerolles-Start 11h00
For further information on La Générali
Médierranée please visit http://www.generalimed.com
