Three different teams – Sodebo, Team Omansail and Ville de Geneve – claimed victory in Monday’s in-port races in the Tour de France a la Voile.
With just six days left of this year’s Tour de France a la Voile, race leader Groupama 34 showed on Monday that she may not be invincible after all.
In the day’s three in-port races at Gruissan, Groupama’s skipper Franck Cammas recorded a third, fourth and second-place finish – a relatively poor result after dominating the event for the past three weeks.
Despite being off the pace on Monday, Groupama remains well out in front in the overall rankings with 1,037 points, 98 clear of nearest rival Bretagne Credit Mutuel Elite.
Race one started two hours after the scheduled start and when the sea breezes finally kicked in, Sodebo skipper Thomas Coville sailed a successful left-hand course to claim the victory.
The second race started in an even lighter wind and Team Omansail made the best of the conditions.
The right side of the course paid off this time and the Omanis crossed the line in first place for only the second time in this year’s edition of the race.
Race three started in four knots of wind, but when it dropped to two, the course had to be shortened, with the finish line moored after the first downwind tack.Swiss team Ville de Geneve took full advantage, with skipper Elodie-Jane Mettraux guiding the boat to her first victory of the series.
