The 52 e he SNIM edition, organised by the Société Nautique de Marseille, opened on Friday 14th April 2017 with 125 boats registered and no less than 1500 crew members of multiple nationalities. Along the quay of Rive-neuve on the Old Port There were seven categories of yachts, from the largest units such as the TP52 or the Swan 601 (18 metres long) to the smallest such as the J70 Triskell the smallest boat in the fleet.
A first day marked by the wind, the wind and the wind again
This first day of the race is also the first day of the famous "Grande Course", which presents itself as the "thrill" of the SNIM and which takes the biggest boats to the island of Les Embiez, before their return in the night. In 2016, it was, in the image of the regatta's slogan "Sport and Rock'n'roll", with a wind blowing at more than 40 knots, casualties, men overboard..
At 3 p.m. on the dot, under a weather that kept its promises, the IRC 0 and 1 categories set off on a 60 nautical mile course around the islands of Marseille and Les Embiez, while the IRC 2 and 3 sailed towards the Green Island. They all joined La Nautique in the night, welcomed by the volunteers of the organisation. A Great Race qualified as idyllic by all with ideal weather conditions, leaving the competitors plenty of time to explore the landscapes of the Calanques National Park. Yves Grosjean, owner of J133 Jivaro a graduate of Trinidad-sur-mer and a resident of, participated in his first SNIM "a must-attend race for anyone racing around here." and finished first at the Old Port at 9:00 p.m., after a 6-hour round trip to Green Island. In the other category launched on the same course, the wind was ideal for the Mumm 36 Millionaire Weekend of Yves Ginoux, but it's finally Twinl Investment Banking A Sunfast 3600, a slower Sunfast 3600, but with a time bonus, which finishes first at compensated time.
On the bigger boats, in IRC 0 and 1, the course was longer and just as spectacular, with 60 nautical miles to swallow around the Ile des Embiez. Unsurprisingly in IRC 0, it was the TP52 Team Vision Future This year's winners are the duo Mickael Mergui and Jean-Jacques Chaubard, who have come to win their 4th SNIM title, who are in the lead. In the IRC 1, Glen's Thunder the Ker 46 of Dominique Tian, flagship of the Pole course de la Nautique, "cut out to eat a mile" ...takes the right options and takes first place.
In the southern harbour, it is smaller boats that "compete" in the IRC 4 and Grand Surprise categories, but there are just as many of them, and just as motivated as on the "big" boats. Some are preparing for the Transquadra, others are used to winning the solo or duo titles, and are aiming for the podium in the IRC European Championship (in Marseille in July). Finally, others are pure amateurs.
A Saturday under the sign of the Mistral
The Mistral, like a diva, has been waiting for several days and at the time of the first departures at 11:00 this morning, it was making itself scarce, blowing between 10 and 15 knots. A perfect wind to celebrate the arrival of the Surprises in the competition - they are racing their Mediterranean Championship at the SNIM. And then before noon, it comes on stage, accompanied by heavy seas and following them, a procession of episodes, each more theatrical than the last..
First there is some equipment damage: the Russians from Artful the Bretons of Ty Sun or the Marseilles-based Daguet 2 Corum are returning to port early to repair the first breakages. At 1350, the VHF sputtered: "Man overboard! ". It was Fioupélan The crew of the Forestier family, who, after mourning an injured man yesterday, was caught in a big swell. More fear than harm, the man overboard is recovered, and their race resumes. However, the race committee sends out the Y flag, which means that the wearing of a vest is compulsory for all competitors... A sign that things are getting serious for good.
The racers wanted rhythm, they got it! Among the one-design boats, four races were run as a Grand Surprise and despite the lack of training which he seemed to deplore, Loïc Fournier-Foch's crew on Old Joker escapes in the lead. In IRC, the pace of the races intensifies as the wind picks up. Competition is fierce and crews are pushing their limits... sometimes a little too far. In spite of the gusts that panic the anemometers beyond 25 and then 30 knots, they don't hesitate to send out the spinnakers, with varying degrees of success.
At the end of the day, despite the multiple abandonments, the torn sails (some spis twisted in "Egg cup" had to be cut with a knife!), the sick - including on the race committee! the enthusiasm is tangible.
A very (too windy) Sunday!
The third day of SNIM 2017 allowed the large units to battle it out. Wisdom led the committee to leave the one-designs and the IRC4s, well set up in the Old Port, and this choice proved to be judicious since the crews had to fight in winds over 30 knots, even 40 knots, and especially big and short waves. As a result, some are taking advantage of the situation to go sightseeing, while others are repairing or bandaging their wounds. For the Mistral has not been kind to men like boats: Lorina 1895 The Swan 601, which had just arrived on the circuit, tore several sails the day before. Too long to repair, the biggest unit of this SNIM remains at quay and throws in the towel for the rest of the regatta.
Philippe Faure, president of the IRC 0-3 race committee, imposes the wearing of a compulsory vest before launching the fleet of the biggest boats to conquer the Mistral! It's 12:30 pm, and the wind is not so strong in Rade Sud, where the first race of the day starts. At this point, nobody knows that this will be the only round and the competitors are very aggressive on the first start. "General reminder, let's do it again!", a fresh start is given.
Team Vision Future of Jean-Jacques Chaubard wins in IRC 0, just as Jean-Jacques Chaubard's Glen's Thunder of Dominique Tian in IRC 1 and TwinL Investment Banking of Franck Loubaresse in IRC 3. In IRC 2, Geranium killer regained some of his composure and won another round, which put him back in contention for the podium.
At about 1430, the wind picked up sharply and the manoeuvres became more and more acrobatic. A gust of nearly 40 knots tore the mainsail of the cador Team Vision Future, which announced its return to port. There were more and more retirements and the race committee decided to follow suit: the end of this third fine day of sailing was reached and the SNIM crew party was now underway.
Review: A dream edition!
The organisers of the Société Nautique de Marseille have seen all their wishes granted for the 52nd edition of the International Mediterranean Nautical Week: numerous competitors of a very high level, a weather that takes your breath away, just enough to take your breath away, volunteers who have spared no effort... In a few words, an Easter weekend as we would like it to be every year!
Some of the 125 boats entered had started the ball rolling on Friday with a promising big race as far as Les Embiez. Then the weather was in charge of increasing the pressure race after race, to the point of forcing the participants to retire during the strong gale on Sunday afternoon. A short rest, just enough to allow the 1,500 sailors to rock the historic flag of the Société Nautique de Marseille during the expected crew party last night.
And then this Monday, once again, the day that sums up the race: perfect. The dance of the boats, all very different, from the Surprise of the 80s, to the latest generation carbon monster TP52 (before foil?), via a Drac 10.50 or an A40, all the crewed sailing of the enlightened amateurs of the Mediterranean was represented. For all of them, the same objective was set: to win... at least one round, one tack, one day or even the entire SNIM. For it was indeed sporting competition that was the order of the day.
In IRC 0, Team Vision Future of Jean-Jacques Chaubard put on a show with his TP52, winning a grand slam easily. In IRC 1, Glen's Thunder could only manage two runners-up finishes on this final day, but finished in an unquestionable first place. In IRC2, the A40RC Tropézien Vito2 played regularity to win, while in IRC3, TwinL Investment Banking of Franck Loubaresse is imposing himself, but misses out on his dream of a grand slam. Finally, in IRC4, Espresso II by Romain Bricier and Guy Claeys offers itself the best of preparations for its great European objective of the beginning of July. In Surprise, it's Goaly (Nicolas Beauregard) who won in the end, after winning three races. Finally, in the Grand Surprise, the battle between the d'Ortoli and Fournier-Foch was theirs. Vieux-Farceur outweighs Numericompta ...despite winning seven straight sets.
Standings after Day 4
IRC0 - 8 races, 7 deductions
1/ Team Vision Future (Jean-Jacques Chaubard) 7 pts
2/ Alizée (Laurent Camprubi) 14 pts
3/ Arobas2 (Christophe Bouvet) 21 pts
IRC1 - 8 races, 7 deductions
1/ Tonnerre de Glen (Dominique Tian) 9 pts
2/ Lady First 2 (Jean-Pierre Dréau) 14 pts
3/ Adrenaline (Michel Gendron) 28 pts
IRC2 - 8 races, 7 deductions
1/ Vito 2 (Gian Marco Magrini) 15 pts
2/ Geranium Killer (Pascal Favalo) 16 pts
3/ Jivaro (Yves Grosjean) 16 pts
IRC3 - 8 races raced, 7 deductions
1/ Twinl Banque d'Affaires (Franck Loubaresse) 9 pts
2/ TIP (Gilles Pages) 19 pts
3/ Euro-Voiles (Denis Infante) 22 pts
IRC4 - 9 races, 8 deductions
1/ Espresso (Guy Claeys) 18 pts
2/ Atlog (Antony Steinberg) 19 pts
3/ Melten (Laurent Sagols) 21 pts
Surprise - 7 races contested, 6 deductions
1/ Goaly (Nicolas Beauregard) 12 pts
2/ Small Tobacco (Frank Reinhardt) 14 pts
2/ Hegoa (Maxime Faure) 18 pts
Grand Surprise - 10 races run, 9 deductions
1/ Vieux-Farceur (Loïc Fournier-Foch) 17 pts
2/ Numericompta (Paul d'Ortoli) 21 pts
3/ Airbus Helicopter 2 (Thomas Clerc) 30 pts
