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Wind, Veiled Keel - Must be the Louis Vuitton Cup? It
isn't just Valencia and the America's cup that is getting some strange
weather patterns. The 8th edition of the Grand
Prix Petit Navire at Douarnenez began, on Friday, with almost mid
summer sunshine and no wind, on land and at sea. It wasn't until late
afternoon, that the breeze came and the 60 foot IMOCA boats gave us the
first idea of their new potential, after winter work.Jean Le Cam's VM Matériaux has had no major work done, since it was launched, in 2004 ..... until now! This time, it left the shipyard with the keel veiled, America's Cup style! What's under there? Who knows, but whatever it is seems to work. Today's event was a speed competition over 31 runs and the best time was recorded by Le Cam, with a blistering 16.41 knots, beating Vincent Riou on PRB (16.24 knots) and Dominique Wavre on Tenemos (14.21 knots). Speculation is rife!! For those who don't know about it, The Grand Prix Petite Navire is a fabulous event, with races for just about anything that floats, or flies. It's the one place in the world where you might see Bruno Peyron, racing in an Optimist, an ORMA tri towing a water skier, kite surfing and some very serious racing all at the same event! Photos of the 2006 event are here, new pictures soon. Marian Martin BYM News 04/30/07 |