France Open Skiff
Event at Lac du Der : you should've been there!
Report: Emilien Taque & Photos:
Tania Samus
http://photoskiff.com/sailing/franceskiff11/
 51
boats on the line coming from 6 different countries,
100 liters of beer drunk, sunshine and heat, and a great
mood all the time, the 2011 edition of the France Open
Skiff event was a great success!
This regatta belongs to the MPS Eurocup
circuit, and 10 mustoskiffs (that's 8 more than last
year!) had travelled to join the other classes on the
races. Starts were common, and a separate MPS ranking
was extracted from the general handicap ranking.
But another big thing on this year edition
was coaching sessions, with the great Graeme Oliver
being with us to train and coach the singlehanders asymetrics
(MPS, RS700, AC10 ans RS100). This was possible thanks
to the financial help from the MPSCA, and also from
our sponsor Schüco Benelux and from the accomodation
organiser (called the UFOLEP). This allowed to ask for
a truly symbolic price of 10€ per sailors for the whole
week-end coaching!
On Friday a special emphasis was put on
rig setting and on tacking/gybing : during the morning,
while lying a boat on its side to help better understanding
of how battens' tension affect the sail's shape, but
also how using the cunningham can help opening the leech
in very light winds. Graeme then showed the sailors
how to tack and gybe, during a nice shore drill session.
The singlehanders fleet hit the water in the afternoon
in light winds, trying to put in practice Graeme's advice,
each sailor being filmed in order to analyse his skills
and ways of improvement when debriefing later on. In
the end, a great very instructive session that everyone
could appreciate.
On Saturday morning, the coaching session held was more
about starting and general boat handling, still in light
winds.
Then, on Saturday afternoon, the first
two races could be held under a June-ish sunshine and
25°C (!), with a clear lead of Nicolas Duchoud (SUI
109) for the Mustoskiffs, who also ended the day first
of the general ranking. On Sunday, after a morning debrief
of Saturday's races and coaching, only one race was
held in very light wind, which was won by Paul Dijkstra
(NED 076) for the MPS's, letting Nicolas Duchoud still
have the lead of the MPS ranking. But another Swiss
boat (David Holenweg and Laureline Chevalley on RS800
SUI 1159) took the lead of the general ranking.
Monday gave us a bit more wind, letting
3 races to be held, in which Nicolas Duchoud confirmed
his clear lead on the MPS ranking, while an excellent
49er team from Nederlands took the final lead on the
general ranking by winning every three races of the
day!
After a nice prize giving followed by
a drink, everyone could go back home (By the way the
latest leaving had the not very happy opportunity to
see that the wind was coming up and up ending in more
than 15 knots at the end of the day! Doh!)
Anyway, let's already book our calendars
for the 2012 rendez-vous, with everything as good as
it was, but just a bit more wind and more UK mustoskiffs
to give us a harder challenge, and it will all be more
than perfect!
Here's a link to the general results :
http://www.ffvoile.net/ffv/sportif/ClmtCompetDet.asp?clid=65529
See
what happend to the wind the next day >>>
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