Press Release n° 8
Sunday 19th June 2003

In the Modern category, Gefion wins ahead of Fleur de Lys
In the Classic category, Bona reinforces her position as leader.

A dead calm sea for today’s sixth race. A few beams of sunshine shone through the cloudy grey sky every now and again. The steady ten-knot north-westerly wind strengthened in the Bay of Quiberon as the clouds passed overhead.

A clean start for all 20 boats. But a fierce battle took place out on the water, as rounding some of the marks proved to be pretty tricky for the boats which were often in contact.

At the windward mark, the Modern yachts pulled away, led by Fleur de Lys, the leader. It began to look as if she would fly off to win once again. Behind her, Yquem, Mystery and Gefion gave chase. In the Classic category, Cutty Tou was first to round the mark, but very close to Bona and Vision of Sebago.

The rounding of the first leeward mark was very exciting. Up in front, Fleur de Lys gybed at the mark, lowered her spinnaker then hoisted her jib for the beat head to wind found herself with a knot in the sheet. Which prevented her from hardening her genoa. It took her more than a minute to cut her sheet free and replace it. In the end, she had slipped down the rankings to fourth position by the next mark. The Swiss boat Gefion took command a few lengths ahead of Mystery and Yquem.

In the Classic category there was a superb battle between Bona, Gaulois, Vision and Cutty gave each other no favours. The leeward mark was rounded in the twinkling of an eye. Bona had taken a little distance, but Vision and Cutty overlapped.

In a fine last beat upwind, Fauroux’s father and son crew, managed to make up a little of the time lost, overtaking Mystery and Yquem but had to concede a four second lead to Gefion in what was a fine win indeed.

In the Classic category, it was not until the last few metres that the outcome became clear. Following a superb final beat upwind, Bona won the round, winning the Sira Cup and the Coupe Cartier into the bargain. As for Cutty Tou, she crossed the line, overlapping Vision on her windward side with a lead of just one tiny second.

Only withdrawal, Aile VI who had to return to harbour following damage to the helm.

Overall rankings including all rounds : Gefion should have taken second place in the Modern category after the sixth race. But in so far as the competitors are able to cancel their worst round, she finishes fifth. With a second place in the sixth round, Fleur de Lys holds onto her first place overall. In the Classic category, Bona keeps her first place in the Sira Cup and the Coupe Cartier.

Saturday 21st June. Trophée Franck Guillet.

At 11 o’clock on Saturday 21st June, the starting shot of the Trophée Frank Guillet will be fired. The name of the trophy belongs to the skipper from La Trinité who was famous in the 1960’s, owner of many racing yachts, including the 8M IC Cutty Tou, which will be taking part in the parade. To close the Championship, the organisers of the SNT have drawn up a course along the channel forming the entrance to the harbour. The start will be at the entrance of the river in La Trinité. After having rounded the offset mark out to sea, the boats will head for the channel up to Les Presses (on a level with the Multipôle shipyard centre ). Then they will return towards the exit. A second round will bring them back in direction of the harbour where the finish will be judged from the end of the Eric Tabarly mole. Spectators will be able to watch the boats from the shores of the channel, from Saint Philibert or form the other side (the Men Du beach).

Today’s rankings :

Round n°6 – 19th June – start : 15h 06
Place ; Sail ; Boat ; Skipper/Nationality; Real time ; Points
1. SUI 7;GEFION;Pierre-André Bonjour ;(Switzerland); 01:53:52;1
2. FRA 29;FLEUR DE LYS;Jacques Fauroux ;(France); 01:53:56;2
3. CAN 33;MYSTERY;Ronald B. Palm ;(Canada); 01:54:10;3
4. SUI 8;YQUEM;Jean Fabre ;(Switzerland); 01:54:11;4
5. NED 2;LAFAYETTE;Jos Fruytier ;(Holland); 01:54:45;5
6. I 16;BONA;Giovanni Mogna ;(Italy); 01:56:49;6
7. SUI 11;ALUETTE;Peter Groh ;(Switzerland); 01:57:12;7
8. KC 3;VISION;Tan Raffray ;(France); 01:57:45;8
9. FRA 25;CUTTY TOU;G. & A. Minos ;(France); 01:57:46;9
10. FRA 28;GAULOIS;Jean-Pierre Gourio ;(France); 01:58:58;10
11. S 16;AMOREVITA;Avia Willment ;(Great Britain); 01:59:41;11
12. GER 5;SPOSA II;Josef Martin ;(Germany); 02:01:17;12
13. GER 6;AYANA;Karl Biller ;(Germany); 02:01:27;13
14. GBR 27;IF;Peter Wilson ;(Great Britain); 02:02:12;14
15. 4;SPHINX;Antti Toukolehto ;(Finland); 02:02:47;15
16. SUI 1;CATINA VI;Fred Meyer ;(Switzerland); 02:03:09;16
17. F 8;ENCHANTEMENT;Alexandre Geffroy ;(France); 02:11:00;17
18. K 24;SUZETTE;Steven Urien ;(France); 02:13:14;18
19. 48;SILK;François Polart ;(France); 02:31:00;19
21. F 1;AILE VI;J. Brunet-Moret ;(France); ;(DNF);21

Overall provisional rankings after 6 rounds
Place ; Sail ; Boat ; Skipper/Nationality; Points
1. FLEUR DE LYS; FRA 29; Jacques Fauroux; 5;
2. LAFAYETTE; NED 2; Jos Fruytier; 17;
3. YQUEM; SUI 8; Jean Fabre; 18;
4. MYSTERY; CAN 33; Ronald B. Palm; 20;
5. GEFION; SUI 7; Pierre-André Bonjour; 21;
6. ALUETTE; SUI 11; Peter Groh; 23;
7. BONA; I 16; Giovanni Mogna; 30;
8. VISION;KC 3 (Classic 8m IC); Tan Raffray; 36;
9. CUTTY TOU;FRA 25 (Classic 8m IC); G. & A. Minos; 37;
10. SPOSA II;GER 5 (Classic 8m IC); Josef Martin; 46;
11. GAULOIS; FRA 28; Jean-Pierre Gourio; 47;
12. SPHINX; 4 (Classic 8m IC); Antti Toukolehto; 49;
13. IF;GBR 27 (Classic 8m IC); Peter Wilson; 63;
14. AMOREVITA; S 16; Avia Willment; 67;
15. CATINA VI; SUI 1; Fred Meyer; 69;
16. AYANA;GER 6 (Classic 8m IC); Karl Biller; 69;
17. SUZETTE; K 24; Steven Urien; 83;
18. ENCHANTEMENT; F 8; Alexandre Geffroy; 85;
19. AILE VI; F 1; J. Brunet-Moret; 98;
20. SILK; 48 (Classic 8m IC); François Polart; 101;

Coupe Cartier – Overall provisional rankings after 6 rounds
Place ; Sail ; Boat ; Skipper/Nationality; Points
1. BONA; I 16; Giovanni Mogna; 5;
2. AMOREVITA; S 16; Avia Willment; 12;
3. CATINA VI; SUI 1; Fred Meyer; 12;
4. ENCHANTEMENT; F 8; Alexandre Geffroy; 20;
5. SUZETTE; K 24; Steven Urien; 22;
6. AILE VI; F 1; J. Brunet-Moret; 31;