A southern day

- An inshore race and a cancelled one
- Departure of the first offshore leg tomorrow at 8.00 pm
- François Verdier (TPM - COYCH) and Bert Schandevyl (TU Delft) interviews
- Download daily free right pictures for the press using the website labels

A sunny morning and a stormy afternoon, an inshore race and a cancelled one: the second racing day of the Tour de France à la Voile 2009 was colourful. The 23 Farr 30 left Dunkerque this morning at 8.00 am. They headed to the same racing zone than yesterday, located six miles away, and endured again a strong stream - 2,5 knots according to the GPS - and a tide coefficient of 97. In the meanwhile, the weather was neither windy nor rough anymore. A gentle wind - five to six knots - and a calm sea slowed down the race. A hot fog appeared during the morning. Storms were to expect with force seven winds coming.
These conditions still allowed the race comity to start a first race at 11.40 am. Toulon Provence Méditerranée - COYCH won just 40 meters ahead Tu Delft, a Dutch project. Fabien Henry's crews only passed by the student team during the last downwind leg. The third boat to cross the finish line was Courrier Dunkerque.

A similar triangle race started at 1.15 pm, but the race direction cancelled it because of the stormy conditions. The wind shifted from 45° to 90°, compromising the competition and the general safety.
According to the overall ranking, Toulon Provence Méditerranée - COYCH is now leading, followed by Elcimaï Ville Marseille, Manche Basse Normandie, Courrier Dunkerque et Val Thorens.
After this second racing day, it seems to be a North / South battle! Tu Delft is now leading the student ranking thanks to its good result today. The Dutch are 8th of the overall ranking before CSC HEC Ecole Navale. Purflo Les Thermes Marins Saint Malo is 7th overall and is leading the amateur ranking.
On Saturday, the 23 boats should start another triangle at midday. Afterward, the competitors should open a new page of this 32nd Tour de France à la Voile: they will leave Dunkerque at 8.00 pm for Dieppe. This 90 miles leg should be a complex one with a strong stream to take into account.

First race report:
11.40 am: first race start. The fleet is crossing the line next to the comity boat. Nouvelle Calédonie crosses it too early and endures an individual recall. Most of the Farr 30 head to the right, next to Bray Dunes beaches. For this two turns triangle, the upwind buoy is one mile away on the 40°. Rhythm is slower than yesterday as airs are lighter. The track is being modified during the race: the dog leg is now 1,2 miles away and is reduced to a single buoy. Toulon Provence Méditerranée - COYCH wins the race. Only 40 meters separate them from Tu Delft! The Dutch led the whole race before to by passed by Fabien Henry's team. The third boat to cut the line is Courrier Dunkerque, skippered by Daniel Souben.

Tomorrow's schedule:
Briefing at 10.00 am
Pier departure at 10.30 am
First race start at 12.00 am
Offshore race departure at 8.00 pm

François Verdier, bowman (Toulon Provence Méditerranée - COYCH)

" During the start, we left next to the comity. We did not reach our goal but worked on our speed. We headed to the right and were situated ahead the fleet. During the first downing leg, we compared our speed with Courrier Dunkerque. At the downwind door, we have decided at the last moment to turn around the right buoy to avoid spinnaker becalms. During the second reaching leg, we played with the wind and found ourselves in a match situation with Tu Delft. We passed them by before the buoy. They had a good speed upwind and could have won if they did not make an error at the end.
Everyone was very cool onboard. Even if we were not doing very well during the first turn, we still did our job. In fact, we were not at our best since the beginning of the competition, but we are improving. Our team is kind of new and changes quickly in a good spirit. We want to win, but they are other good teams... We must keep it real. "

Bert Schandevyl, skipper (TU Delft)

" We had a nice start with a good speed while everyone was stuck with the stream. A good start is 70% of the race! Then, we managed the whole thing rather well. It is great to know we can compete with the best. We lost because of a technical error: we jibed too late and it was not our best jibe ever... It cost us the first place.
The student ranking is still our priority and we want to have a better result than the past years. The race is long but today's result is indeed encouraging!
We are 12 crews and 60% are new. On board, we speak mainly Dutch, but some of us are Belgium and so we speak an Anvers dialect. I sometimes speak in English... And I try to improve my French! "