Thursday, March 10, 2011

COLUMBIA 29 DEFENDER

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Tour Voile 2000 - Perros-Guirec to Le Crouesty Race Delayed


Author: Lisa Walker

OFFSHORE RACE, PERROS-GUIREC TO LE CROUESTY

Today in Perros-Guirec on France’s Pink Granite Coast, the 34 crews on this year’s Tour Voile have been kept ashore after the postponement of the scheduled 183-mile offshore race to Le Crouesty.

The weather conditions have not improved from yesterday, when the boats had to motor from Trebeurden to Le Crouesty. The current and forecasted wind speed is 30-35 knots with 4 metre seas. The expected close to beam reaching conditions may have been the reason why the Race Committee have decided to postpone today’s race.

The news came at 10:30 this morning as many of the crews were preparing themselves and their boats for the longest race of this month long sailing event. The atmosphere on shore now is one of anticipation. At the prize giving ceremony last night, when British boat Barlo Plastics, skippered by Adrian Stead, was presented with first prize for the offshore race from Cherbourg to Trebeurden, Stead voiced his and the rest of the sailors’ eagerness to get back out on the water, “we are really looking forward to continuing this event and hope that tomorrow we will be able to get the boats out to race”.

This was not to be the case however, and this morning after the decision was made to postpone, Stead commented, “It was a good decision by the Race Committee, the weather should be better by tomorrow, which will make it less of a survival race. Everyone here is ready and raring to go”.

The team on Barlo Plastics, had anticipated this postponement, as Tim Bailey, an expert on local tides and conditions around Ushant, had been advising navigator Jules Salter yesterday in preparation for the race.

The plan is now to get the boats out of the harbour before lock out at 03:00 tomorrow morning. The race is due to start at 06:00 as collision regulations will not allow the boats to start until after 05:45.



Route of the Tour de France а la Voile 2000



Jun. 29 – Jul. 2 Dieppe July 16 – 18 Ile de Rй - Ars en Rй
July 3 – 5 Portsmouth July 18 La Rochelle
July 5 – 7 Cherbourg July 18 – 21 Saint-Cyprien
July 8 – 9 Trebeurden July 21 – 22 Sиte
July 9 – 10 Perros-Guirec July 23 – 25 Bandol
July 11 – 13 Le Crouesty-Arzon July 25 – 26 Port Grimaud
July 13 – 14 Saint-Nazaire July 27 – 28 Imperia
July 14 – 15 Nantes July 29 – 31 Calvi

More Information: www.tourvoile.fr

See also: COLUMBIA 29 for sale