Deauville International Week
June 12, 2006 11:20 0 comments
Mumm 30s, J-109s 7 the 40 foot class. Louis Browne and his crew on Asterix crowned European Mumm 30 Champions.
J.M.Liot
Deauville International Week finishes today. For the past 4 days, 400 racers have enjoyed perfect sailing conditions with very well organized racing. The British crews take victory in the Mumm 30’s, the J109’s and the 40 foot classes. Local Deauville sailor Philippe Rossignol wins in the J80 class while Normans Philippe Ligot and Christian Ponthieu take the Melges 24 by storm…
Mumm 30: Louis Browne is the European Mumm 30 Champion. Out of 11 races, the British crew never crossed the finish line below eighth position. Louis has shown extraordinary control, outclassing his adversaries throughout the week. In so doing, he gets his revenge on the 2005 Worlds where he held his lead for 4 days prior to finishing third after a disqualification. Benoit Charon, the Granville sailor also pulled off a great performance and together with third placed ‘Courrier Dunkerque’ skippered by Daniel Souben and helmed by François Lebourdais, will certainly be the boats to watch in the Tour de France à la Voile (July 2006).”
Louis Browne: “This is a fantastic victory. We have got our revenge on the 2005 Worlds. We came to Deauville without pressure after a little preparation in Pornichet on the Atlantic coast. My crew has been great, there’s a great spirit aboard. We are now going to concentrate on our next objective which is the World Championship in Miami at the start of December”.
Daniel Souben pays homage to Astérix: “They didn’t make a single mistake. Their reading of the race zone was very good. Downwind they were a notch above all their adversaries. Hat’s off to them!”
J105: In the very elevated series of J105s, French sailor Pierre Dalibot ‘Garzette’ managed to hold out against a strong English contingent. With a one point lead over ‘J-Dream’ helmed by David Apthorp this Breton crew has demonstrated great skill in mastering what is not always the easiest of machines to control.
Pierre Dalibot: “On the first day, we thought ‘J-Dream’ was untouchable. But in the breeze on the second day, we hit the jackpot. It really was a great battle yesterday in the light winds. In the end we won. What a pleasure to sail on a one design against the foreigners!”
Marie-Claude Heys (2nd on British boat J-Dream): “We’re very pleased with the result. Essentially we threw it away on Friday as we weren’t very good in the breeze. The sails are 2 years old which was more penalising in those conditions. Garzette went very well here and in the Spi Ouest. I’m usually on the helm on Java so this was a unique position to be on. I was on the main sheet and David Althorp was a great helm. It all worked really well and we’ve all given each other a few tips. The lads on the bow did a great job heaving the sails up and down. It’s a very nice crew. Everything was very positive. Deauville is definitely a good place and a good event and there’s no question that we’ll be back next year.”
J109: “Johnny Blue 2” is the first J109 to etch its name on the new European Cup for the class, held in Deauville. Their 10 point lead was solid proof of the abilities of the enthusiast Chaz Ivill on the big J.
Chaz Ivill: Johnny Blue II “We’re very pleased with the result. It’s been great racing. I’ve never been to an event where we’ve done so much racing! We’ve done more racing over the past 3 days than we do over the entire time at Cowes Week! It’s really full-on everyday. The secret of our success I suppose is when you’re going upwind – you get the bow up as quickly as you can with the keel biting in. Then you sail deep to get it going. It’s a good team, a good boat with good sails. It was a great team effort.”
Jonathon Meeson (Crew on Johnny Blue II). “The local sailors didn’t really have an advantage as conditions were very unusual. We had a good SE’ly breeze and the sea breeze didn’t come in as expected. It made things very challenging as you really had to watch the water. It’s been a great event, it has everything you need, fair priced hotels, good restaurants. There’s no reason why it shouldn’t take off!”
J80: The Deauville skipper Philippe Rossignol brings honour to the host town of the International Week by taking victory in the J80!
40 pieds: The first 40.7 “Grand Cru 2” takes victory over some serious adversaries: the Dutch IMX 40 ‘Weerga’ Liezenga W-R (18 pts) and British boat ‘Chimaena’ skippered by Walker Stewart.
Robin Dollar: “We won Class 3 at Cowes Week so to score well here too is fantastic. It’s been really good here. Real match racing and the IMX was great. The secret of our success was essentially down to some brilliant crew work, especially on the foredeck. We’ve got a real mix of talent with three SP3 sailors, Jason in the Etchells and Henry in the Finns. Another thing which helped us was our new masthead kite. It gives us great power and there’s only one other one in England. More boats would be nice for next year’s race and I think an IRC rating for our particular boat would encourage that. It’s a great regatta, we’ve had a great time. It’s terrific!”
Melges 24: The Fécamp sailor Philippe Ligot and the Granville sailor Christian Ponthieu win Deauville International Week and the nationals of the series. They took victory in no less than 10 of the 11 races!
Christian Ponthieu: “This week the conditions have been great for this type of racing. With a medium wind, breeze and light winds we were really able to show off our potential. It was a very good result. The race zone in Deauville is very nice, especially thanks to the complexity of the current and the very shifty wind along the coast.”
Philippe Rossignol, member of Deauville Yacht Club: “We sail on all the European race zones with the Dragons and we’ve rarely seen such a well organized race as Deauville International Week. The race committees have been very good. We took victory as a result of our starts. The fleet was so consistent that you really had to get a good start.”
747 OD: The Norman Pierre-Alexandre Jouvencon is awarded first place in this class in the colours of the Calvados.
The final word from organiser Manfred Ramspacher: “I am very happy. This event is now credible. The racers have highlighted the quality of the race zone, which is really satisfying. We now have a great sailing event situated in the Channel and in Normandy. Until next year!”
Deauville International Week in figures:
>> 400 racers
>> 7 nations
>> 60 monoholls
>> 2000 spectators on the water
>> 7 series
>> 4 days of sailing
Zoom in on Louis Brown: Asterix. Mumm 30.
“Once we manage to get out ahead we’re able to stay ahead, which I think is due to the fact that you’re in clear air out the front. We are fast that’s for sure. There’s not much in terms of European events after this. There’s Cowes Week but that’s not really important in terms of the programme. The next big event is the Worlds in Miami but our presence there depends on finance. As regards the crew, most of them are my usual ones. Dave Evans, the helmsmen and I have been sailing with each other for 14/15 years now, so we’re celebrating some sort of anniversary there. Matt’s been on the boat for 6 years. Dave Lens is with Quantum Sails and he and Briton his wife joined the boat last year. So it’s pretty settled and very nice. We all get on very well. Just as working with your friends is much better, so is sailing with your friends. As far as Deneen is concerned I don’t think it can help to have half the crew being American and half of them French. I think it’s inevitable that they’ll have some language problems there. I’m not sure how much experience the tactician has of speaking English and given his role that must be a handicap of some sort. The Germans are doing pretty well; Bent Dietrich in particular has been pretty solid with his mostly English crew but they’ve had a disqualification. English boat Bite the Bullet is also doing very well but they had a premature start yesterday and that’s certainly not done them any favours. But they are fast and very good sailors. They’ve got Paul Goodison as tactician and he’s an Olympic Laser sailor yesterday. There are certainly some key people here that take things seriously.”
