Bertrand Pacé at the helm

He can keep the red spinnaker! Bertrand Pacé took Nouvelle-Calédonie’s helm this morning and just won the first offshore leg between Dunkerque and Calais. His team is still leading the overall ranking. Job done in the North wind and streams.

« The Tour de France à la Voile is made of up and down. We’re right now at the top, so let’s enjoy the moment!» Bertrand Pacé and his crew can drink to their victory. They are really strong! They took the lead of the race in front of Dunkerque and won a tricky 25-miles race.

Tricky? At least! Narrow channel, strong wind – 20 knots – and opposite stream – three knots. Pacé, famous match-racer and six times winner of the TFV, keeps it quiet. He won the competition in 1997 and knows about the race. “We are in Calais only and we need to go to La Seyne-sur-Mer. A lot of water will flow under the bridge. »

Second, Ile-de-France 2010, with Jimmy Pahun at the helm. Vincent Aillaud, Jean-François Cuzon, Jean-Pierre Nicol and co. did well, finishing second behind Nouvelle-Calédonie.

Toulon-Provence-Méditerranée – COYCH is third, and third of the overall ranking too. First amateur and fourth overall during this offshore leg, Ville de Genève – Carrefour Prévention. Team SOG – Safran is the first student and finished the leg in sixth position. Tonight, the students are still second overall!

Another surprise: several boats went aground on a sandbar few minutes after the start, including Oman Sail’s Renaissance. This international team took the best start but hit the sand and stopped. The boat was last at the mark but succeeded to reach the tenth place in Calais. Cédric Pouligny, helmsman: “We were very angry after that, but it doesn’t help. So we moved ahead and sail to come back.”

Normale Sup – Lagardère’s students had a more serious issue : they gave up after breaking the forestay. They are now doing their best to repair and start again tomorrow. And Supelec is DNF on this leg for crossing the finish line too late.

Interviews

Cédric Pouligny, Oman Sail’s Renaissance’s helmsman:
“ It was complicated for us. We started well and were well located at the mark. Yet, we went slightly too far under spinnaker and we went aground on a sandbar. We were last and we went aground again. But we came back strongly and finished tenth. It is a good sign, since it means the damages aren’t too serious. We sailed well and were fast. We really worked hard on that.”

Jérôme Clerc, Ville de Genève – Carrefour Prévention’s skipper:
“It’s a great day! We are really happy to be fourth and first amateur today, for the first offshore leg. We had to be ahead as soon as possible ‘cause there were not many possibilites to gain places afterwards. The key points? The first mark, where we jibed first and were second for the waypoint. After that, it was almost ‘easy’!”

Nicolas Andrieu, INSA - SOPRA - TSP – TEM’s skipper and helmsman:
“We started rather well, but we didn’t succeed to leave the fleet behind during the first upwind leg. Then, downwind, we managed to sail ahead. Then, it was quite tough to avoid the lulls within the channel’s buoy. At some point, we sail offshore to enjoy a better stream. It paid well and then, we controlled the other teams. We went aground at the beginning, but it really wasn’t that important. The upwind leg to Calais was way more crucial. From my point of view, we had to choose between a favourable stream or a better wind, next to the coast.”