French remain in command at the Offshore Double Handed World Championship

The international fleet were at maximum velocity for a 40-mile blast south through the islands south of Lorient and then a reaching leg offshore, west of  Belle-Île into Atlantic swell for a 30-mile beat. At the break of dawn, as the fleet approached the finish the breeze eased to about ten knots creating a tantalizing final flourish for the teams looking to place in the top five. They have been awarded a provisional place in the Offshore Double Handed World Championship Final to be held on 29 September.

Elodie Bonafous & Basile Bourgnon (FRA) crossed the finish line over one hour ahead of Anna Drougge & Martin Angsell (SWE) to claim the second race win of the World Championship for France. “We didn’t make a perfect race but we are happy to have won the race,” commented Elodie Bonafous. “Before the start, we were the first crew to set the spinnaker and we had decided to prioritise making good manoeuvres and also to limit the number of gybes downwind as much as possible.” Basile Bourgnon added: “Our speed was good but to have a chance of winning the final, we have to make no mistakes, just like racing in the Figaro, if you make a mistake, you do not win.”

The Swedish duo of Anna Drougge & Martin Angsell had a terrific battle with Erik Van Vuuren & Yvonne Beusker (NED), Sweden crossed the line just two minutes and 20 seconds ahead. “Our speed at the start was good but the Dutch team were faster than us later on the downwind leg, for sure we can improve both our tactics and our speed but we have learnt a lot.” commented Martin Angsell.

“We are more than delighted,” commented Anna Drougge. “Our goal was to make the final, so top five, but Martin said we should aim for top three to make sure. So coming second is above our expectation. It was super-close with Netherlands but that fight helped both of us, because in that battle, we both increased our performance, especially upwind in the big waves.”

Lina Rixgens & Sverre Reinke (GER) finished in fourth place after a tremendous fight back. The German duo, who are both from Hamburg, were sixth after the long downwind leg but attacked on the beat north to climb up the rankings. “The beat was tough, big seas and very dark, so it was difficult to see the way through the wave pattern,” commented Sverre Reinke. “We were changing driver every 15 minutes to keep the concentration. Although it was a short race, it was extremely tiring, we gave everything to get into the top five and we are looking forward to the final race.”

The battle for fifth went to the wire.  The ‘hot seat’ to make the Final of the Offshore Double Handed World Championship was decided by just two minutes and 40 seconds. Onur Tok & Pelin Keskin (TUR) took fifth with Timothée Deplasse & Alix Schouller (BEL) in sixth. Turkey and Belgium were barely apart for 15 hours of racing. As Turkey and Belgium rounded the island of Groix for the reach to the finish the Belgian team went all the way inshore and hoisted their Code Zero, the last throw of the dice to try to get by the Turkish team.

“We were so tired by the end, but we saw the Belgians put up the Code Zero and we had to do the same,” commented Onur Tok. “We had nothing left, when we crossed the line, but to represent Turkey in a World Championship final is fantastic, we are very proud.”

The results of the Region Bretagne Race (Elimination 2) are subject to protest hearings that will be heard later today, Saturday 28 September. The ODHWC Race Committee are expected to make an official announcement regarding the schedule for the Offshore Double Handed World Championship Final. Due to the forecast weather and sea state, the Start of Lorient Agglomération Final is expected to be delayed with a start on Monday 30  September at 1100 UTC+2. The start of the Final for the 2024 Offshore Double Handed World Championship will be streamed live, freely available on YouTube.

Text and images courtesy of RORC.org. For more information visit: www.lorientgrandlarge.org