Big J/80 Fleet Training for Worlds(La Trinite sur Mer, France)- The 35th edition of the SPI OUEST-France Intermarché starts on March 28th and goes for four days of racing in the Bay of Quiberon off the famous seaport of La Trinite sur Mer. SPI OUEST France is one of Europe's largest regattas, and certainly the premiere regatta of the spring sailing season, and over 150 volunteers from the Societe Nautique La Trinité-sur-Mer have been preparing for several weeks to host the 423 registered sailing teams and several thousand sailors. And among the skippers, some of the biggest names in French sailing will once again take part in SPI OUEST; including none other than Thomas Coville, Franck Cammas (Volvo Ocean Race winner on GROUPAMA), Vincent Riou, Michel Desjoyeaux, Nicolas Troussel Souben Daniel, Nicolas Lunven, Franck-Yves Escoffier and others.
The weather scenario is a bit uncertain as a huge depression in the North Atlantic is expected to arrive Monday in the late afternoon, but is preceded by a trough carrying winds. The path it will takes varies from hour to hour based on the various weather models. Explained Christophe Gaumont (renowned meteorologist), "yesterday, we predicted 35 knots Friday and this morning, we did not expect more than 10 kts! We should have a weekend with a wide range of conditions, sustained wind Friday and Monday and low to moderate Saturday and Sunday. The east, west, south, a little rain, a little sun. In short, an Easter weekend of varied, colorful and variable weather." Now that's a weather forecast all the sailors can rely upon, isn't it?
Of
the 423 boats sailing, over 130 alone are J/Teams (31% of the entire
fleet) which makes "J" the dominant sailboat brand at the biggest
regatta hosted in France! Amongst those teams will be an all-women OMAN
SAIL team sailing their J/80 LES JUPTIENS in the enormously competitive
fleet of 108 J/80s. This team of women came from Oman to rub shoulders
and learn from the biggest names in French offshore and one-design
sailing. Joining them are many familiar names at the top of the J/80
Worlds and most all top French teams will be using SPI OUEST as part of
their "tune-up" and training efforts for the J/80 Worlds Marseilles down
on the Mediterranean later in July. Amongst those teams are familiar
French J/80 names like INTERFACE CONCEPT's Eric Brezellec, INTERFACE
CONCEPT 2's Simon Moreceau, ATLANTIS's Louis Sambron, GANJA's Luc Nadal
and JIBE SET's Herve Leduc. One of Spain's top teams, GOLD SAILING with
M. Jauregui, will be testing the waters on the Baie de Quiberon.
Alongside him will be Italy's Massimo Rama sailing JENIALE! For more SPI OUEST France Intermarche sailing information
