Too much wind, too much speed : Race cancelled after two dismasting

It was supposed to be windy this last offshore leg from Marseille to La Seyne : but not that much. With 35 knots of wind and after two boats dismated, the race was cancelled to avoid more drama.

Soon after the start, the wind began to built up. From 15 knots to 20, 25, 30 knots and more. The waves were getting higher and higher too, from one meter to 3 and even 4 meters. The boat were going really fast with their big spinnakers, surfing the waves at 16 knots and more (24 knots for Groovederci !). And suddenly Groovederci, ranking 4th overall, lost its mast. Luckily, no one was hurt and they were able to motoring to the end. A few minutes later, another top boat dismated : Courrier Dunkerque, ranking second. By the time the boat were arriving to Cap Sicié, the sea were really rough, 4 meters high but rather short. Just the way the med can turn abruptly into a nightmare for any sailor. And you still have to sail 7 nautical milles upwind to the arrival in La Seyne. So the Principal Race Officer had no choice but to cancel the race in order to prevent any other drama to occur. Too bad for the show but you can't blame the RC for puting at halt a dangerous game. The fleet did the last milles upwind motoring and now another race has begun for Courrier Dunkerque and Groovederci. They have to change their mast before tomorrow morning if they want to have a chance to defend their ranking. Hopefully, they can rely on the help of the other teams to be ready for tomorrow. But nobody knows yet if the wind will have decrease. Let's hope we will have some good sport in the Toulon harbour to end the Tour de France. It is going to be the last day of show for the Farr 30 and we all expect the whole fleet to give it's best.