The “Brits” fly the flag in Douarnenez 2007

Numbers were down for both the Coupe de Bretagne (45) and the Grand Prix Petit Navire (60), probably because of the Gold Cup being held only two weeks before and it was the fleet's third visit to Douarnez within a year. In the first regatta 5 of these were British if you include “Danish Blue”. This marginally disappointing fleet did not diminish from the warmth of the welcome and the top rate organisation that we have come to expect from Douarnenez.
The weather at the beginning of the regatta looked as if it was going to be a continuation of Palma, with the first days racing cancelled due to lack of wind and a steady downpour of rain. Sunday morning looked only marginally better with no wind and a heavy mist, but thankfully the sun broke through by late morning and a gentle breeze built from the west. Because of the late start only one good race could be sailed.
In the late afternoon sunshine the organisers put on a grilled tuna barbeque with jacket potatoes, at the equivalent cost of 60p with all the proceeds going to the local lifeboat. This was not only for the competitors but the whole town was invited too! The local choral society were also there to sing sea shanties to add to the festive feel, could you ever imagine an event happening like this in England!.
Monday morning the fleet left the harbour at about 9:30 in a gentle northerly breeze only to see it die as we reached the race area, and there we had to wait until about 3:00 before the wind filled in from NW, but at least the sun was shining! The fleet split going up the first beat and those heading left received the benefit of a major shift, which saw “Sinewave”, Tommy Muller, leading at the first mark from which he was never headed. “Danish Blue” and Hand of Fortune” having gone right, struggled to recover, so it was a great effort for Poul Hoj Jensen to finish 3rd with Mike Holmes finishing 16th. They tried to start a second race, but after a general recall and the time being 6:00pm they abandoned racing for the day.
With only two races having been completed for the Coupe de Bretagne and three required for a series the competitors voted to use the lay day to complete the regatta with a start set for late in the day in an attempt to get a steadier breeze.
Tuesday's start was set for 2:00; by 3:00 nobody had made the race area due to the lack of wind. A fitful breeze built by 4;00 and with the race committee desperate to complete the series we were sent on our way. In these difficult conditions with wind vanes and major shifts it was never going to be a fair race, but, to give the competitors their due, I did not hear many complaints. “Danish Blue” finished 17th & “Hand of Fortune” 26th with overall positions of 4th and 17th respectively. The other British boats finishing positions were 38th GBR 630 T'Al Fun Peter Colby, 42nd GBR 590 “Mystere”, Norman Blowers & 43rd GBR 633 “Feilin's Flirtation” Ron James. The overall winner was FRA 365 “AR Youleg” Louis Urvois with RUS 12 “Sail Away” Vadim Statsenko second and FIN50 “Rat Pack” Henrik Dahlman third.
Wednesday 2nd May the start of the Grand prix Petit Navine, which included the draw for a 4X4 Jeep as the prize this year. Two more British competitors joined the fleet in the form of David Palmer in “Princess Jalina” & Quentin Strauss in “Gill” and they went on to fly the flag for the “Brits”.
The weather forecast was looking more hopeful than earlier in the week and it was on this note that the fleet sailed out of the harbour into a light NE breeze., but again it failed as we reached the start area. The fleet again bobbed up and down in glorious sunshine before the breeze eventually filled in during the early afternoon, but too late to get two races in, but it was the last race we were going to loose.
There were many bad luck stories as the wind shifted constantly the eventual winner being RUS 99 “Murka 99, but GBR 723 “Gill” managed a 5th and GBR 700 “Princess Jalina” 10th.
Thursday morning and we were greeted by another day of brilliant sunshine and what looked like a steady NE breeze only to fade again. After a two hour wait the wind filled in from the same quarter but this time in double-digit strength. This produced some sparkling sailing, but, as it is Douarnenez, with the same big shifts. This was the first of a string of very good results for David Palmer in GBR 700 who finished 2nd. “GBR 705 Poul Hoj Jensen” 6th. and Quenten Strauss in GBR 723 7th. Mike Holmes in Hand Of Fortune had an unfortunate collision with EST1 Jevgeni Kazarov at the first windward mark and retired.
The second race of the day was started in very similar conditions, and at the top mark most of the “hot shots” found themselves well down the fleet as the wind moved against predictions. The race was won by FRA 340 Vol De Nuit” but GBR 700 “Princess Jalina” did very well to finish 3rd, “Gill” 7th but “Danish Blue could only manage 26th.
Friday morning and again “wall to wall” sunshine, and for the first time a breeze that did not falter! The fleet got away at the second time of asking into a 14 Kn NNE and as stated earlier with the wind coming from this direction over the land there were many shifts. “Gill” had her best race in a very consistent series to finish 4th, and “Princess Jalina” her most disappointing but still managed to finish15th. A much steadier day for GBR 684 “Hand Of Fortune” with a 26th and a 20th in the second race. “Danish Blue” had mixed fortunes finishing 6th in the morning, but with the fleet in the second race having one of those “over keen days” with two general recalls of which two were black flag, Poul Hoj Jensen was one of those caught over along with GBR 723 “Gill” Quentin Strauss, This was to be David Palmers race, he led at the first mark and them continued to pull away over the rest of the course for a convincing win. This left him 1 point behind GER 996 “Sinewave” going into the last day.
Saturday was Dolphin day. For those who have not been to Douarnenez recently, the fleet has been delighted and amused by two dolphins during the last two years who have jumped and twisted around the boats or played with ropes that hung out for them to jump or take. Today they had their own back and teased and played with us! The stories told would possible not be believed unless they had not been captured on film. As the fleet approached the starboard of the leeward marks one of the dolphins decided to play with the ground tackle holding the buoy. The jury tell me he managed to hit 25 Dragons with the buoy. For “Hand of Fortune” part I was allowing room for a French boat calling for water, but as I approached the mark it was making great speed towards me, and within seconds the buoy was touching the side of the boat. The unfortunate part was the French boat had not seen what was happening and was still trying to get his bow between “Hand Of Fortune” and the buoy! There is also a great shot on film of the buoy hitting “Danish Blue” much to Poul's surprise.
After the race in an informal discussion with the International Jury they indicated that the current rules do not have any provisions for redress against dolphins! In a situation as described above if any of the leaders had sought redress the Jury would have had no option but declare the race void. Luckily the fleet took it in good spirit and the results stood.
For the racing RUS 77 “Diamond”, last years winner had her first win, “Sinewave” a well fought 2nd after being well down the fleet at the first mark, this result gave her the regatta as “Princess Jalina” could only make 6th, and 2nd overall, “Gill” had another very consistent race finishing 5th to give her 3rd overall.
Other British places overall “Danish Blue” 9th; ”Hand Of Fortune” 45th; GBR 633 “Feilin's Flirtation” 46th; GBR 630 “T'ai Fun” 48th and GBR 590 “Mystere” 58th.
The hospitality as ever was superb, from the formal events to the little touches like the French bread sandwiches with the free beer on coming ashore. I have already mentioned the barbeque, but we also had the sardine (as many as you could eat) and the crepe nights. The organisation ran as smoothly as ever with the supreme efficiency of the launching and retrieval of the boats the only negative was completely out of their control, the lack of wind on the first three days.