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Press release – Monday 23 May 2011
A lively first night
The 16 Class40s competing in the Normandy Channel Race 2011 have completed
their first night at sea. After a lively start yesterday off Hermanville,
the fleet set off on a beat towards the Saint Marcouf islands. The Channel
crossing took place over the course of the night and this morning for the
leaders, and the Solent was already in their wake as the chasing pack
continued its progress between the Isle of Wight and the English indexland.
Three Normans are leading proceedings: Port de Caen Ouistreham, Fabien
Delahaye and Bruno Jourdren, Initiatives Saveurs, Tanguy de Lamotte and
Sébastien Audigane and Marie Toît – Caen la mer, Michel Kleinjans and Marc
Lepesqueux. The next ranking is at 1100 hours GMT and below is the latest
news from aboard:
Message from Caroline Vieille and Stéphanie Alran aboard Ocean’s Eleven,
received on Monday 23 May at 0048 hours French time:
“After a pretty hectic start and a few lively tacks, we’re sailing with our
gennaker under a beautiful starry sky... We’re within sight of a few other
boats, Spliff and Gryphon Solo 2. We’ve lost the girls (40 Degrees) with
whom we sailed neck and neck for a while. All’s well and we’re making the
most of the night to slip along nicely and be on the attack for the Solent!
To be honest this first race start didn’t pass without emotion;
exhilarating, stressful, but pleasant. I even find it hard to believe that
I’ve made it this far as the journey just to make the start has cost a great
deal in terms of energy!!!” See you soon, Steph and Caro
Message from Axel Strauss and Nicolas Boidevézi aboard Défi GDE – Tzu Hang,
received on Monday 23 May at 0143 hours French time:
“We’re mid-Channel under gennaker and indexsail on a reach. We have clear
skies and a slight swell… a great night! All’s well aboard and a superb
atmosphere ‘mit’ (with) Axel. We’re very happy with our start yesterday for
friends, partners and the Normans. After weaving our way nicely along the
coast as far as the Saint Marcouf islands… Everything is good, except we’d
have preferred not be sailing under gennaker, which is new and so mysterious
in terms of trimming… We’re preparing to do battle in contact with our
rivals in the Solent. Good night, see you tomorrow! Ps: this evening it was
Axel who cooked but he didn’t make me Wiener Schnitzel sadly ;-)”
Message from Phillippa Hutton Squire and Nick Legatt aboard Phesheya Racing,
received on Monday 23 May at 0308 hours French time:
“Yesterday we were observing our progress aboard Phesheya racing during the
first few hours of the race. We got off to a good start, even leading the
fleet during a few of the tack changes but a rather slow spinnaker hoist
caused us to drop a few places as we rounded the Ouistreham mark. Racing in
the Class40 is really close and for a while, our position in the rankings
took a dip. We were down to 8th then we caught back up with the fleet around
the Saint Marcouf islands, which we rounded in 3rd position. We got across
the English Channel very quickly under full indexsail, staysail and gennaker
and we’re already approaching the Solont as I write. We’ve dropped a few
places following mechanical issues with the gennaker furler but I think
we’re still 5th.”
Message from Hannah Jenner and Anna-Maria Renken aboard 40 Degrees, received
on Monday 23 May at 0700 hours French time:
“Our gennaker halyard failed in the very lively conditions. Our sail dropped
into the water and got caught up around the keel and rudder. It was a real
shambles! However, we did manage to sort the problem out without too much
damage and now we’re galloping along at the back in a bid to catch up with
the fleet! Greetings to you all, Hannah and Anna”
Ranking on Monday 23 May at 0800 hours French time:
1
PORT DE CAEN OUISTREHAM
Fabien Delahaye/Bruno Jourdren
Dist to the finish 816,8
2
INITIATIVES SAVEURS
Tanguy de Lamotte/Sébastien Audigane
818,2
3
MARIE TOÎT - CAEN LA MER
Marc Lepesqueux/Michel Kleinjans
818,3
4
L'EXPRESS - SAPMER
Pierre-Yves Lautrou/Dominic Vittet
819,4
5
TALANTA
Jean Galfione/Eric Péron
820,0
6
DES PIEDS ET DES indexS
Damien seguin/Yohann Richomme
820,9
7
MARE.DE2
Jorg Riechers/Etienne David
821,7
8
PHESHEYA RACING
Philippa Hutton/Nick Leggatt
822,0
9
DEFI GDE - TZU HANG
Axel Strauss/Nicolas Boidevézi
823,0
10
PARTOUCHE
Christophe Coatnoan/Sébastien Figue
823,1
11
RED
Matthias Blumencron/Boris Hermann
823,4
12
GRYPHON SOLO 2
Joe Harris/Josh Hall
836,5
13
40 DEGREES
Hannah Jenner/Anna-Maria Renken
838,0
14
SPLIFF
Andrew Dawson/Rune Aasberg
847,8
15
OCEAN ELEVEN
Stéphanie Alran/Caroline Vieille
848,8
16
LIVEWIRE
Stuart Dodd/Steve Kennington
922
Find the cartography, updated rankings, photos and radio sessions on the
race site: www.normandy-race.com
For your information: the number of visitors to the race site reached 25,000
pages read on Sunday 22 May.
Join the Normandy Channel Race at
www.normandy-race.com and on Facebook.
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
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