The fleet of the Tour de France à la Voile is heading toward North Britany

At 12.05 am, the 23 Farr 30 of the TFV left Dieppe. A 190 miles long offshore leg will lead them to Saint-Cast, Côtes d’armor.

The weather forecast, added to the well-known characteristics of this route should offer a very tactical leg. Actually, most of the route should be done with an upward wind, but the forecast north eastern wind is likely to be light and versatile.
Given that, the east tip of Cotentin, and then the Raz Blanchard might be complicated for the crews, as, in all likelihood, there will be areas where they will have to deal with very light winds. The stream is the other snag that the crews will have to be aware of. The stream could reach 6 knots! The gamble of this second leg will be to sneak through early enough to avoid the turn of the tide. No doubt that during this first stage, the gaps between the boats will widen.
The Channels islands are also difficult to pass through. The crews must stay focus until the very end. They will arrive in the brand new port of Saint-Cast, which will be inaugurated during the TFV stopover.

For some, this port of call also means a coming back, which make them very keen on reaching the top of the ranking for this leg. That is the case for Côtes d’Armor’s crew (8th place of the overall ranking) led by Stéphane Letretre. The skipper, native from Saint-Quay Portrieux analyses their “home back”: “We know the area. It may be an advantage for us but we have to stay focused as the situation can change quickly. Our opponents will be like us: they won’t give up.”
To be noticed, some crews decided to value experience by taking aboard for this important leg skippers with prestigious backgrounds. Brest Grandes Ecoles (17th place of the overall ranking) chose Sebastien Audigane. The crew of the maxi Banque Populaire V is just back from New York where he left Pascal Bidégorry’s boat.
Franck Yves Escoffier, skipper of 50’Crêpes Whaouh joins Purflo - Les Thermes Marins – Saint-Malo, ranked at the 11th place whereas the figarist François Gabard will be the asset in the handle of TPM – COYCH (third place of the overall ranking).
We probably won’t be able to reveal the name of this leg winner before tomorrow evening or even tomorrow night. A leg which starts an important week.
Once arrived in Côtes d’Armor, it will not be long before the start of the longest but also the most strategic step of this 32nd Tour de France à la Voile, the offshore leg between Saint-Quay Portrieux and La Trinité sur Mer. This forth stage is to begin on July, 4th.
“Right now, Nouvelle Calédonie is at the top of the overall ranking, they have some advance over their opponents and took a good start. If they were to take the lead on that step too, that would spice up things as they also have some points to take back. This leg is the first real step toward the overall ranking. The following one, between Saint-Quay Portrieux and La Trinité sur Mer, will be marked with a ratio of three for us to know more about the possible leaders. The next week is a key week for the overall ranking”, told us William Borel, race director.

Second offshore leg (Dieppe – Saint-Cast, Côtes d’Armor) report:
It starts at 12.05 am in front of Dieppe beach. Ville du Port – La Réunion crosses the line earlier than it is authorised. A 6 knots wind blows at 45°. The fleet sails downwind for 20 minutes before to cross the first buoy, one mille away. The strong stream slows down the Farr 30. TU Delft students are first, followed by Nantes saint Nazaire – Centrale Nantes. Val Thorens is third, CSC – HEC – Ecole Navale closes a still very dense fleet. The leg is only beginning.

Interview of William Borel, race director, about the second offshore leg between Dieppe and Sant-Cast, Côtes d’Armor:
“The main difficulties are going to be the Cotentin east tip, then the Raz Blanchard. Streams will be strong: we will start with a tide coefficient of 66 decreasing to 50. In the Raz, even with these coefficients, we can have 6 knots of wind. The boats escaping just before the tide turn will take an important advantage on others. Air bubbles gonna be a major obstacle as the North North East wind is not stable. If there are lulls and stream, it should be complicated for the tacticians to manage. But the game should be interesting. In any case I prefer this kind of weather instead of a strong west wind and a perilous Raz Blanchard. To be honest, being the race director, these are conditions I am happy about since we won’t have to manage safety problems but only checkings and race matters. Gaps might be important between the competitors because of the stream.
From a strategic point of view, some professional crews are kind of late but nothing no worry about. We only did 10% of the race. It must be kept in mind that worst results can be suppressed after the 10th race.”

Interview of Stéphane Letertre, Côtes d’Armor skipper:
“Weather will be the main issue. Then, there are also difficult places with a strong stream. The weather should be rather calm even if all forecasts are not similar. It should be stormy, we must be careful. We want to sail well. At the beginning, we will forget a little bit about the competitors. We must do as planned; we must not change of mind at the last moment because of the tiredness or anything else.
We are coming back home and it smells good! We know the places we are going to. It might be an advantage, but we should not fall asleep as situations can change quickly. Others will be like us, they won’t give up!”

Interview of Sébastien Audigane, Brest Grandes Ecoles co-skipper:
“The weather forecast is rather calm. The wind will increase during the afternoon but a lull should appear on the Cotentin. Zones with stream will be complicated. We will be careful. After the Raz Blanchard are the Anglo-Saxon islands where the stream is also strong. A light wind may be blowing from the North. It will be long and difficulty from the nerves point of view. At the beginning, we will follow our mates. During the night, we will see what is going on and we might try something.”

Interview of Franck Yves Escoffier, Purflo – Les Thermes Marins – Saint-Malo tactician:
“ According to the weather, it will be really calm. We shall have some wind this afternoon to sail to Barfleur and pass La Hague. It might be more complicated afterward. There probably won’t be any wind tomorrow morning. The route is almost straight as the Banc Desormes buoy is located in the North West of Jersey. It is a compulsory place to go through: we can’t have fun sailing close to the Cotentin coasts or in the West. And there, there won’t be any wind and it might be rainy. It will indeed be complicated.”

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