Tour de France à la Voile 2003

Press release n°2
June, the 30th

Ville d'Antibes NEC first in Cherbourg

Julien Farnarier's Ville d'Antibes NEC was the first boat to cross the finish line this morning at 08h32 snatching victory in the second offshore race of this Tour de France à la Voile 2003. Toulon-Provence-Méditerranée- Coych came home in second just ahead of Dieppe Seine Maritime. Defending champions, Pierre-Loïc Berthet and his crew onboard Bouygues Telecom finished in fourth and are now the overall leaders. The Italians of Joe Fly Sailing Team still stand in 8th place overall after finishing in 8th in Cherbourg. Southern Sun Team Australie skippered by Melbourne¹s Mike Smith and Kirwan Robb are 10th overall after a disappointing 23rd place today.

The fleet kicked off Wednesday at 14:00 to sail this 107-mile leg from Dieppe to Cherbourg. The first part of the race turned into a long beat along the cliffs of Haute-Normandy. During that fierce tacking battle, it paid for those who chose to stay close to the shore. The fleet passed the mark at Antifer at 21:00. Capsport was in the lead, followed by Ville de Genève Carrefour Prévention and Toulon-Provence- Méditerranée-Coych. Bouygues Telecom was in 5th and Joe Fly Sailing Team in 7th. Then, at about 22:00, the northwesterly wind, that was slowly dying, suddenly picked up again allowing the boats to sail on the rum line. It remained like that until the wind shifted to the west south west. That¹s when the crews had to deal with lots of weed and also the tricky current of the Baie de Seine. Ville d¹Antibes NEC was the first one to tack, at the right time and the right place just as the wind shifted again to the North-West. And that¹s when the story of the race was played out. Julie Farnarier¹s crew got in the lead and controlled everyone in a nail-biting finish that saw 10 boats crossing the line within 10 minutes.

The boys onboard Bouygues Telecom, who came home in fourth, were lucky that a boat managed to pass Cap Sport at the last minute. Therefore, the defending champions are now leading overall.

The Italians onboard Federico Michetti¹s Joe Fly, who were leading at the top mark, came home in 8th position and still stand in 8th place overall.

Quotes:

Yann Eliès (Ville d¹Antibes NEC): «What I will remember from this race is that we¹ve been flying through the fleet. The key was that good tack in the Baie de Seine. There is no doubt about the fact that speed makes you clever and we were fast today²

Pierre Loïc Berthet (Bouygues Telecom): ³We¹re looking good so far. But it seems pretty clear that Cap Sport will be a most serious threat. Last year, we needed one point to win the regatta. Today we¹re four points ahead of them. That¹s good².

Duncan Mac Load (Southern Sun Team Australie): ³We had a shocker as we dropped from 6th to 263rd after picked up a huge weed under our keel²