TOUR DE BRETAGNE
A LA VOILE - 18-24 MAY 2003
LEG 6 : 2 x INSHORE WINDWARD/LEEWARD RACES
CONDITIONS : 4-22 knots / squally conditions
Sam
Davies and co-skipper Emma Westmacott on board
SKANDIA saved their best result to last in the
Tour de Bretagne a la Voile - scoring 11th place
in the final inshore race of the six-leg series
securing 18th place overall: "It's a good
feeling to finish with a result like that,"
said Davies. "I think we have earnt some
respect from the other skippers in the last two
days."
Gildas
Morvan and Bertrand Pacé on Cercle Vert
left no doubt in anyone's mind about who was in
control of this event, posting two wins in the
final inshore races to score overall victory.
Perhaps the two skippers on Bostik Findley, Charles
Caudrelier and Pascal Bidegorry, had the hardest
pill to swallow having performed so well, to either
hold top of the leaderboard or just one place
behind, to finally finish in fourth place overall
after a 10th and 8th today. Stronger performances
by Delta Dore (Beyou/Chiorri) and Defi Sante Voile
(Petit/Mahe) secured them 2nd and 3rd overall
respectively.
Squally
conditions dictated the pace on the last day of
racing with the wind going from 4 to 22 knots
as big rain storms passed through the fleet. "It
was a good day for learning in these varied conditions,"
said Davies. "Putting ballast in and out,
trying every type of sail trim to be on the pace."
But the effort paid off for SKANDIA in the two
inshore races scoring a 17th then 11th place in
the final race. "Today we felt we really
knew what we were doing but there is still a long
way to go," said Davies. "We are more
than pleased with where we finished which is the
first time in my sailing career that I can honestly
say at the end of a regatta that I am happy with
finishing halfway down the pack - but it's true!
With this standard of competition and our first
event, we are more than happy."
Now
Sam will do some further training on SKANDIA before
the boat is delivered by trailer to the Mediterranean
for her first solo event La Générali
Méditerranée starting on 13th June
in Marseilles.
FINAL OVERALL RESULTS TOUR DE BRETAGNE - AFTER
6 LEGS:
Skipper
/ co-skipper / boat (L1-L2-L3-L4-L5-L6-=pts)
26 starters
1st
Gildas MORVAN / Bertrand PACE - CERCLE VERT (11-1-2-1-1-1-10=27)
2nd Jeremie BEYOU / Gilles CHIORRI - DELTA DORE
(4-4-7-6-2-6-3=32) 3rd Benoit PETIT / Tangi MAHE
/ DEFI SANTE VOILE (3-6-5-7-4-2-5=32) 4th Charles
CAUDRELIER-BENAC / Pascal BIDEGORRY - BOSTIK FINDLEY
(6-2-3-4-5-10-8=38) 5th Erwan TABARLY / Philippe
VICARIOT - THALES (1-8-8-3-10-4-6=40) 6th Yann
ELIES / Loick PEYRON - GROUPE GENERALI ASSURANCES
(5-7-6-10-6-8-4=46) 7th Thierry CHABAGNY / Corentin
DOUGUET - PETIT NAVIRE (7-5-11-5-11-7-2=48) 8th
Armel LE CLEAC'H / Nicolas TROUSSEL - CREALINE
(16-10-1-8-7-5-7=54) 9th Damien GRIMONT / Dominique
VITTET - SOLETANCHE BACHY (15-9-20-9-3-3-1=60)
10th Eric DROUGLAZET / Hans BOUSCHOLTE - DAVID
OLIVIER (10-3-10-2-8-11-16=60) 18th Sam DAVIES
/ Emma WESTMACOTT - SKANDIA (21-25-23-22-12-17-11=131)
See full race results at http://www.tourdebretagnealavoile.com
OFFSHORE CHALLENGES SAILING TEAM - PEFORMANCE
PARTNER OF THE DAY: H2Optix : Global Partner to
the Offshore Challenges Sailing Team http://www.samdavies.com/h2optix
