Gorgeous Spi Ouest France Regatta

Spi Ouest France Regatta © Spi Ouest-France - Banque Populaire Grand Ouest

Over the Easter Weekend, La Trinité sur Mer had over 2,000 sailors meet for their beloved Le Spi Ouest-France Banque Populaire Grand Ouest Regatta. The weather Godz offered beautiful conditions all weekend on Quiberon Bay, much to the delight of the hundreds of boats on the water. There were a few remarkable performances by various J/Teams in both the IRC handicap and one-design classes.

The eighteen-boat J/70 class saw a Spanish team prevail, with Luis Martin Cabiedes' Noticia taking class honors with a few firsts.... like Seven firsts in nine races. To say their performance was stunning would be a mild understatement. Noticia simply smoked the fleet in complete clinic on how to sail a J/70 fast all around the race track. Herve Leduc's Pierre Oceane took the silver, winning one of the races. Phillippe Guigne's Virtual Regatta 70 took the bronze, also winning a race. Rounding out the top five was Laurent Charmy's SL Maintenance Fastwave in fourth and Guillaume Plassart's Izenah 4 in fifth place. Top woman skipper was Elizabeth Vaillant's Triskell in eighth.

For the fifty-seven-boat J/80 class, it was a full-on battle for supremacy between long-time class leaders Simon Moriceau and Patrick Bot. Winning the first three races in their bid to dominate was Bot's Ecole Navale Loca Ponton. However, four days of racing would take its toll on Bot's crew... perhaps enjoying a few celebratory magnums of wine after their first day's good fortune. Pacing them all along was Simon Moriceau's PL Yachting & Armen Habitat, second after the first day but closing strongly as the regatta unfolded. In the end, Bot's team had a hard time getting finishes in the top 10 in their last four races, losing out to Moriceau's "hot hand" when they closed with a 1-5-2 to win the class. Third was top woman skipper Anne Phelipon's Navigatlantique. Rounding out the top five was the Spanish team of Almandoz Iker's Ebata 80 in fourth and Pierre Laouenan's Elite Ecole Navale in fifth position.

In the eleven-boat IRC A division, Phillipe Baetz's J/122E Musix placed fourth.

In the hotly contested twenty-nine-boat IRC B division, the biggest and most competitive handicap class at SPI Ouest, top woman skipper Maxime Mesnil's J/99 Axe Sail won class honors with a very consistent 5-1-7-1 for 14 pts. winning, in fact, on a tie-breaker. Rounding out the podium with the bronze medal was Didier Le Moal's J/99 J-Lance 25 with a 3-6-2-4 for 15 pts. only one point back. Yet, one more point back in fourth place was Samuel Prietz's J/109 Felix VI with 16 pts.

Winning the thirty-four-boat IRC Double division was Phillippe Girardin & Gwenael Thomas' J/120 Hey Jude... beating perhaps one of the most famous French offshore duos- the JPK 1080 Racing Bee 2.

In the thirty-three-boat Osiris Group C division, Samuel Blevin's J/109 Axilone-Joke took the silver, losing the class win by 1 pt. Pascal Rialland's J/88 Jumpin Jack placed fifth.

More SPI OUEST France Regatta sailing information here...