Friday 19 July will be a busy day in La Trinité-sur-Mer, a large part of the fleet that left Cherbourg-en-Cotentin on Monday for the fifth edition of the DRHEAM-CUP / GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE DE COURSE AU LARGE is expected today.
After Drekan Energy (Eric Defert) and Teasing Machine (Eric de Turckheim), respectively the first multihull and the first monohull in the DRHEAM-CUP / GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE DE COURSE AU LARGE on Thursday at 03:48 and 16:44, two Multi 2000s crossed the finish line in La Trinité-sur-Mer: Bruno Jacob’s ORC 50 GDD, with Sébastien Audigane at the helm, finished on Thursday night at 01:16, followed in the early hours of the morning, at 06:59, by Wellness Training/MG5 (Marc Guillemot), who took advantage of the return of a Southwesterly breeze during the night to leave ACapella-Proludic-La chaîne de l’espoir (Charlie Capelle) behind. The latter will be arriving this morning, and Minor Swing (Didier Bouillard) and Perros-Guirec (Thierry Roger), who chose to pass between Belle-Ile and the mainland before rounding Hoëdic, will complete the Multi 2000 ranking.
In the crewed IRCs, the real time podium will also be known this Friday morning, with three hopefuls for the two remaining places (behind Teasing Machine). Moana, with their 100% mixed Dutch crew skippered by Frans Van Cappelle, Fastwave 6 (Eric Fries) and Stamina Sailing Team (Charlie Ageneau) are nearning Hoëdic this morning and have been battling it out from the start.. The suspense is just as intense in the two-handed IRC class, with some fine tactical racing at the end of the 520-mile course: whereas Red Ruby (Jonathan McKee/Will Harris) and Axesail by Issartel/Sarbacane (Maxime Mesnil/Hugo Feydit) opted to pass north of Belle-ile, Bellino (Rob Craigie/Debb Fish) opted to round it by the south, the results will be in midday!
The same uncertainty in the Sun Fast 30 One Design, with another hundred miles or so to go for the frontrunners and different options when nearing Quiberon Bay: SL Energies Groupe (Laurent Charmy), Red Dolphins Espoirs (Jonas Gerckens) and Gaia (Lina Rixgens) have opted for a northerly route, while the young Cherbourg team from Collectif Espoir Terre Bleue (Noa Geoffroy) have opted for the outside, and Numerobis (Jean Passini/Dominique Dubeau) has chosen a median route. Finally, in the Class40s, the option chosen on Thursday by Groupe Snef (Xavier Macaire) to sail as close as possible to the Breton coast has paid off, as this Friday morning they are about to round the Rochebonne mark ahead of the fleet, with a lead of around ten miles over the two pursuers, Viranga (Emmanuel Hamez) and Swift (Jack Trigger). This will leave them with a final 80-mile reaching run, which should be fairly fast, for a finish at the end of the day.