ORMA 60 Grand Prix de Marseille Métropole

An eventful finalé

While Franck Cammas treated himself to victory in a further two races on Sunday, it was a very tense final between Karine Fauconnier and Fred Le Peutrec as they vied for second place in the Grand Prix de Marseille Métropole. The battle for fourth place in the Multihull World Championship was equally hard fought between Michel Desjoyeaux and Alain Gautier; the latter racing his last ever Grand Prix. Light conditions mixed with the desire to excel and strategy were the order of the day.

Groupama showed no mercy. Finishing “just” second in the first race of the Grand Prix de Marseille on Friday, Franck Cammas was not simply assured of victory for the final but also picked up his fourth title as World Multihull Champion, as he did in 2001, 2002 and 2003. The domination of the green trimaran is such that since its launch last June and its first Grand Prix in Fécamp in north-eastern France (2nd), then Calvi, Corsica (3rd), the other skippers on the circuit are asking themselves some serious questions about what modifications they can bring to their multihulls for next year.

The first race of the day was raced in rather calm conditions with 6 to 10 knot thermals from the south-west. Franck Cammas once again got off to a superb start on starboard tack straight down the middle of the line while Fred Le Peutrec (Gitana 11), Alain Gautier and Philippe Monnet headed off towards the committee boat. Finding itself in an indefensible position, Foncia immediately changed course in search of wind, which it thought looked more sustained towards the islands of Frioul. On a starboard tack, the strategists waited for the upwind boats to change course so as to perform the same manoeuvre and in the midst of the action Michel Desjoyeaux shifted into a position with Franck Cammas downwind of him. At that point the wind veered slightly to the left, favouring the boat that had been the last to change course, Groupama. It streaked ahead and continued to stretch out a lead right to the end of the two laps. A good ten boat lengths behind, Sergio Tacchini (Karine Fauconnier), had the edge on Gitana 11 who was at ease against Banque Populaire, followed by Géant, Sopra Group and Foncia. Other than Alain Gautier passing in front of Philippe Monnet, the positions remained unchanged in the slight wind shifts that swept the southern bay of Marseille.

The second race of the day was raced in even gentler conditions, to the point that the race committee were forced to reduce the two planned laps to just one. The start was particularly favourable towards the mark at the end of the line, with Sopra Group, Groupama and Géant taking off on a port tack behind the pack on a starboard tack lead by Foncia. In the fickle wind, the slightest change of tack cost very dearly, with the strategists virtually forced to take a hard right (Géant, Groupama) or a hard left (Foncia, Gitana 11, Sergio Tacchini) once they had chosen their sides.

The race was nevertheless crucial as it decided both the ranking in the Grand Prix de Marseille and the relative podium positions in the World Multihull Championship. Behind Groupama in this ultimate Grand Prix in Marseille, second place hinged on the one point advantage that Karine Fauconnier had on Fred Le Peutrec. Similarly fourth place rested on the one point difference between Michel Desjoyeaux and Alain Gautier. In the championship as a whole, Michel Desjoyeaux had to finish ahead of Alain Gautier if he was to take second behind Franck Cammas, while Karine Fauconnier had to hold onto second place in Marseille.

The situation was highly complicated and the various strategies had to take into account their own results in each race as well as the number of boats between them, the ranking of the other trimarans and their places. In the Worlds Franck Cammas won the fifth race out of six though, followed by Michel Desjoyeaux, who in so doing held onto his fourth position in the general Grand Prix ranking. Karine Fauconnier, Fred Le Peutrec, Pascal Bidegorry (Figaro champion and new skipper of Banque Populaire), Alain Gautier and Philippe Monnet completed the ranking in that order.

Winner of the Grand Prix de Marseille Métropole with a lead of twelve points over Karine Fauconnier, Franck Cammas brought the season to a close in true style aboard his brand new prototype. Karine Fauconnier was under a great deal of pressure with her last year of sailing under the colours of Sergio Tacchini, added to which was a “catastrophic” race where the trimaran finished sixth without a single win in Marseille. Fred Le Peutrec was not regular enough to be the threat he was in Calvi but he was able to assure a fine performance in weather conditions that weren’t particularly favourable to his trimaran. Michel Desjoyeaux ended on a high note by taking fourth in the Grand Prix de Marseille enabling him to hold onto second place in the World Championship: on equal points with Karine Fauconnier, his victory in The Transat with a greater coefficient, gives him the advantage.

Overall Results: (six races)

1st Franck Cammas, Groupama 2,1,1,1,1,1, 7 pts
2nd Karine Fauconnier, Sergio Tacchini 4,2,2,6,2,3, 19 pts
3rd Fred Le Peutrec, Gitana 11 3,4,5,2,3,4, 21 pts
4th Michel Desjoyeaux, Géant 6,6,3,3,5,2, 25 pts
5th Alain Gautier, Foncia 5,3,4,4,6,6, 28 pts
6th Pascal Bidégorry, Banque Populaire 7,5,6,5,4,5, 32 pts
7th Philippe Monnet, Sopra Group 1,7,7,7,7,7, 36 pts
8th= Stève Ravussin, Banque Covefi 10,10,10,10,10,10, 60 pts
8th= Thomas Coville, Sodebo 10,10,10,10,10,10, 60 pts

World Championship rankings:
(GP La Trinité/mer, The Transat, Québec-Saint Malo, GP Fécamp, GP Corse, GP Marseille)

1st Franck Cammas – Groupama (1er, 3ème, 2ème, 2ème, 3ème, 1er) 23 pts
2nd Michel Desjoyeaux – Géant (3ème, 1er, 3ème, 4ème, 6ème, 4ème) 26 pts
3rd Karine Fauconnier – Sergio Tacchini (2ème, 5ème, 1er, 1er, 2ème, 2ème) 26 pts
4th Thomas Coville – Sodebo (6ème, 2ème, 4ème, 8ème, 7ème, DNS) 50 pts
5th Alain Gautier – Foncia (7ème, 4ème, 6ème, 5ème, 4ème, 5ème) 55 pts
6th Fred Le Peutrec – Gitana11 (5ème, 9ème, DNF, 3ème, 1er, 3ème) 86 pts
7th Philippe Monnet – Sopra Group (9ème, 8ème, 8ème, 9ème, 8ème, 7ème) 89 pts