Tour de France à la Voile 2003
Press release n°5
July the 9th
Antibes holds on to the lead!

The 37-Mumm 30 fleet is about to leave Brittany to head for St-Nazaire (Loire Atlantique). For the last few days, the wind has been fickle and is expected to remain very light for this next 137-mile offshore race. As a consequence of the light air, the previous offshore leg, from St-Quay Portrieux to Camaret, had to be shortened. Julien Farnarier and Marc Audineau¹s Antibes NEC became the new overall leaders after crossing the line in first at the Lizen Ven Ouest mark where the leg was shortened. Though a disappointing 27th place in yesterday¹s inshore race off Camaret, the Antibes NEC team keep their overall lead but are highly threatened by the defending champions onboard Bouygues Telecom. Pierre-Loïc Berthet and his crew stand in 2nd position only 4 points behind the leaders. Besides, they now have extra expertise as famous Frenchman Loïck Peyron has stepped onboard their Mumm 30. Jimmy Pahun¹s Région Ile de France, who stands in 3rd place, also remains as one of the most serious contender. The latter also has some fresh blood onboard with the arrival of Kiwi Morgan Trubovitch who has sailed many times in the Tour de France à la Voile.

The Aussie of Southern Sun Team Australia were a happy bunch of young men after winning the second place in the race to Camaret. A race of tactics and navigation. As explained Melbourne¹s Mike Smith, co-skipper: ³Mike Broughton (the navigator) chose the inshore route amongst the rocks and inside the islands, whilst most of the rest of the fleet went outside - it paid off big time, sailing along some of the most spectacular coast anywhere in the world².

The Aussies, who came in 10th in yesterday¹s inshore race, now stand in 9th place overall. They had come up from 12th to 9th in Camaret. Ahead of them is Federico Michetti¹s Joe Fly Sailing Team who has been standing in the 8th place for a while now. The Italians, who now have Farr 40 World Champion Vasco Vascotto onboard, are still hoping for a wake up call in order to gain a few places in the overall ranking. But they seem to have subscribed to 8th place as they finished in 8th in yesterday¹s inshore race. According to many skippers, that race was a bit of a lottery, as there seemed to have no logic in the winds favouring those who were conservative.

However, the current ranking might as well change after the coming 137-mile race to St-Nazaire. It should be a most tricky race especially in light air conditions. The most difficult part should be the passage of the feared Raz de Sein, known for its strong current and often rough sea. ³To survive, they will have to pass the Raz de Sein before 20:00. After that the current will be against them², said René Boulaire, race director.

Several major tactical decisions will have to be made along the way.

The boats are expected in St-Nazaire on Thursday evening.

Full results and ranking on www.toourvoile.fr