Tour de Bretagne a la Voile

Sam Davies and co-skipper Emma Westmacott on board SKANDIA saved their best result to last in the Tour de Bretagne a la Voile - scoring 11th place in the final inshore race of the six-leg series securing 18th place overall: "It's a good feeling to finish with a result like that," said Davies. "I think we have earnt some respect from the other skippers in the last two days."

Gildas Morvan and Bertrand Pacé on Cercle Vert left no doubt in anyone's mind about who was in control of this event, posting two wins in the final inshore races to score overall victory. Perhaps the two skippers on Bostik Findley, Charles Caudrelier and Pascal Bidegorry, had the hardest pill to swallow having performed so well, to either hold top of the leaderboard or just one place behind, to finally finish in fourth place overall after a 10th and 8th today. Stronger performances by Delta Dore (Beyou/Chiorri) and Defi Sante Voile (Petit/Mahe) secured them 2nd and 3rd overall respectively.

Squally conditions dictated the pace on the last day of racing with the wind going from 4 to 22 knots as big rain storms passed through the fleet. "It was a good day for learning in these varied conditions," said Davies. "Putting ballast in and out, trying every type of sail trim to be on the pace." But the effort paid off for SKANDIA in the two inshore races scoring a 17th then 11th place in the final race. "Today we felt we really knew what we were doing but there is still a long way to go," said Davies. "We are more than pleased with where we finished which is the first time in my sailing career that I can honestly say at the end of a regatta that I am happy with finishing halfway down the pack - but it's true! With this standard of competition and our first event, we are more than happy."

Now Sam will do some further training on SKANDIA before the boat is delivered by trailer to the Mediterranean for her first solo event La Générali Méditerranée starting on 13th June in Marseilles.

FINAL OVERALL RESULTS TOUR DE BRETAGNE - AFTER 6 LEGS:

Skipper / co-skipper / boat (L1-L2-L3-L4-L5-L6-=pts)
26 starters

1st Gildas MORVAN / Bertrand PACE - CERCLE VERT (11-1-2-1-1-1-10=27)
2nd Jeremie BEYOU / Gilles CHIORRI - DELTA DORE (4-4-7-6-2-6-3=32)
3rd Benoit PETIT / Tangi MAHE / DEFI SANTE VOILE (3-6-5-7-4-2-5=32)
4th Charles CAUDRELIER-BENAC / Pascal BIDEGORRY - BOSTIK FINDLEY (6-2-3-4-5-10-8=38)
5th Erwan TABARLY / Philippe VICARIOT - THALES (1-8-8-3-10-4-6=40)
6th Yann ELIES / Loick PEYRON - GROUPE GENERALI ASSURANCES (5-7-6-10-6-8-4=46)
7th Thierry CHABAGNY / Corentin DOUGUET - PETIT NAVIRE (7-5-11-5-11-7-2=48)
8th Armel LE CLEAC'H / Nicolas TROUSSEL - CREALINE (16-10-1-8-7-5-7=54)
9th Damien GRIMONT / Dominique VITTET - SOLETANCHE BACHY (15-9-20-9-3-3-1=60)
10th Eric DROUGLAZET / Hans BOUSCHOLTE - DAVID OLIVIER (10-3-10-2-8-11-16=60)
18th Sam DAVIES / Emma WESTMACOTT - SKANDIA (21-25-23-22-12-17-11=131)