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Tommy Wins 1st Race in Cannes…
51 Dragons made it to the start line yesterday for the first day of the Cannes Grand Prix in beautiful sunny conditions and a 5 to 6 knot wind from the East. After waiting patiently for the breeze to fill in and settle down the “President du Comite’ de Course” Philippe Enel set an excellent course with an initial first beat of around 1.6 miles.
After one General Recall the 450m line was re-adjusted to suit to movement of the wind and the fleet got away under just a “P” Flag, which was excellent.
Once the race was re-started half the fleet went right towards the Island hoping to sail into more pressure, whilst the other boats kept on starboard tack off the line looking for some advantage from the left. In the end it was FIN 63 “Nenya” helmed by Peter Von Koskull, who rounded the top mark just ahead of the fleet and was first to hoist their yellow and white spinnaker.
On the first downwind leg the fleet again spilt left and right, with most the leaders electing to gybe soon after rounding the “dog-leg” buoy. However, GBR 375 “Blue Haze” helmed by Ivan Bradbury continued on after a bear away set which proved to be a master decision by his tactician Lars Hendriksen. By maintaining good pressure Ivan took the lead through the first gate and was the boat to catch for the remainder of the 2 hour race.
However, on the third and final beat, it was GER 1133 “M3” helmed by Tommy Muller, crewed by Vincent Hoesch and Fritjof Kleen who passed GBR 375 and FIN 63 to take the victory. A super race and very well sailed to these three teams.
1st GER 1133. 2nd FIN 63. 3rd GBR 375. 4th GBR 758. 5th GER 1123.
I would like to thank Michael Kurtz from “Pantaenius Insurance” for supplying these amazing photo’s which capture in such detail the fantastic atmosphere in Cannes this week.
Higher, Faster, Longer……….. Stavros. (GBR 585).