SWE 409 Win the Coupe de L’Amitie, Cannes.

(Left) 2nd overall Karl-Gustaf Lohr, Mads & Jesper Bendix.  (Middle) Winners Jesper Stalheim, Leif & Jens Moller.  (Right) 3rd overall Martin Byrne, Adam Winklemann & John Simms. With our IDA Chairman Gerard Blanc.

                                             “A report from Jehan Lerin.”

Wind, waves and freshness, it’s January under the sun! Team Pilsner wins again.

After the deluge during the previous regatta with the cruisers (President’s Cup), the sun was back and the fresh air… too.

The second regatta of the year organized by the Yacht Club of Cannes took place from January 27th to 29th. The Dragon fleet was composed of nineteen crews for the Friendship Cup, under the sign of the wind but also of a strong swell coming from the East-South-East sector and already present since a few days.

On the first day (Friday), the nineteen boats took to the starting line with a wind oscillating from 5 to 10-12 knots in the 110 to 130. The first race was won by IRL 201 Jaguar Sailing Team with Martin Byrne’s crew and the second by SWE 404 High Times with Karl-Gustaf Löhr. At the end of the evening, SWE 404 was in the lead ahead of IRL 201 followed by SWE 409 (Jesper Stälheim’s Team Pilsner).

Close Racing in Cannes at the Coupe de L’Amitie.

Saturday, January 28th was a difficult day to predict in terms of weather. The Race Committee moved from bay to bay to finally return to the East Bay, but then signaled a return to port around 3:00 pm. A swell bar was breaking in the channel between Palm Beach and St Marguerite Island, dangerous to ensure the safety of the whole fleet.

Large rolling swells during the Coupe de L’Amitie.

Sunday, January 29th was without a doubt the most pleasant day in terms of temperature, stability of the wind from the South (190 to 180) as well as its intensity between 8 and 12 knots. A lot of fun for the competitors who came from all over Europe. The young Danish team, DEN 413 Lady in Red with Felix Jacobsen, got the two best starts of the day but lost the victory in the first race, finishing second. As for SWE 409 Team Pilsner helmed by Jesper Stälheim (14th in the ILCA7 at the last Olympic Games in Tokyo), this one, as a fine helmsman, maintained a good speed and came back on the Danes to steal the first place from them since the second passage of the windward buoy. The GBR 633 Fei’ling Flirtation crew of Ron James finished third.

In the second and last race of the day, the Danes understood the lesson and took the lead until the finish line. FIN 97 of Jouko Lindgren finished second and SWE 409 Team Pilsner third, thus protecting its first place in the overall classification.

Overall Winners SWE 409 Jesper Stalheim, with Leif & Jens Moller.

At the end of the four races of the Dragon 2023 Friendship Cup, SWE 409 Team Pilsner of Jesper Stälheim and the gentlemen MÖLLERS, was declared the winner ahead of SWE 404 High Times of Karl-Gustaf Löhr and the Irish IRL 201 Team Jaguar of Martin Byrne.

Many congratulations to all the podium Sailors and to Jehan Lerin (Photographie) from Yacht Club de Cannes for this excellent account over the 3 days. 19 teams is a great turnout and everyone will look forward to the next Cannes Regatta 24th to 26th February. The “International Extra Cup”…      Higher, Longer, Faster……………  Stavros.

Results https://www.manage2sail.com/en-US/event/08b3c122-a0b2-490a-92e3-31a7187dbcf9#!/results?classId=0c5c5b0c-e42c-4594-9dd2-d3e0a79682f6