The Tour de France à la Voile will take place throughout the month of July, with a first stage in Dunkirk on July 3 and a final stage in Nice on July 26. 28 teams took part in this Tour de France à la Voile and will compete in nine acts, through coastal raids and regattas in nautical stadiums. Generally, the first day will be devoted to the first event and the second to the second. The great novelty: the course will be done in Diam 24.
Act 1 in Dunkerque: A stage shortened by lack of wind
On July 3, the Tour de France à la Voile opened with the coastal raid of Dunkerque. The 28 crews left Malo-les-Bains at noon for 45 miles of sailing to the north and Niewpoort, with three loops in front of the beach of the seaside resort, to finish the raid. On this first event, Grandeur Nature Vérandas was the winner. The team composed of Jean-Christophe and Tim Mourniac and Pierre-Yves Durand completed the course in 4 hours 33 minutes and 51 seconds. Spindrift (Xavier Revil, Matthieu Vandame and Thierry Douillard) arrived 1 minute later.
The regatta in the nautical stadium takes place in two stages. The fleet is divided into two groups and competes on courses drawn along the beach, in rounds of about twenty minutes. The qualification phases take place from 11 am to 3 pm and are followed by the final phases. Unfortunately, on Sunday, July 5th, the crews could only run one race per group, due to the lack of wind.
As two of them had to be completed to validate the day, the ranking could only be established according to the coastal raid. So Grandeur Nature Verandas takes the lead in the general ranking with the blue gennaker. Spindrift is second and Vannes Agglo Golfe du Morbihan is third.
Act 2 in Fécamp: Groupama completes a double
Act 2 of Fécamp opened on Monday July 6th with a coastal raid at 2pm, when the thermal wind picked up. The 28 boats set off from the port of Fécamp to sail along the cliffs of Etretat. After a general recall, the Diam 24 fleet was able to set off for a 15 mile loop. With a finish line crossing at more than 16 knots, Groupama (Pierre Pennec, Arnaud Jarlegan and Quentin Ponroy) won this first race. CombiWest took 2nd place and West Courtage âeuros Ãcole Navale 3rd. Grandeur Nature Verandas won the 4th place, not changing its position as leader of the general ranking.
After their victory on July 6 in the coastal raid, Groupama won again on Tuesday, July 7, on the nautical stadium course, winning Act 2 of the Tour de France à la Voile. This victory allows them to take the lead in the general ranking, ahead of Grandeur Nature Vérandas (2nd) and Spindrift (3rd).
