AG2R : A Good session in 2006

AG2R : A Good session in 2006

The transat which had "the wind aft » has tied up yet again in St Barth. And once again there will be no talk of "doubling" as the Ail Groupe Bel's boat won the race on Saturday 29 April (11.57 a.m French metropolitan time) with its team composed of Frenchman Kito de Pavant from Dordogne and Italian Pietro d'Ali from Genova. The race lasted 9 days, 22 hours, 24 minutes and 30 secs. The champions' name is written next to Armel Le Cléac'h and Nicolas Troussel, last year's winners (Brit Air) who could have repeated their achievement if winds had been favourable.

This year's crowning thus bears a unique Mediterranean flavour, which is more than unusual, as this kind of competition is often dominated by the Northern regions of Bretagne and Normandie. In this way it is no surprise that the second and the third prizes were swept away by the traditional representatives, respectively Dominic Vittet from "Morbihan' and Lionel Lemonchois from "Normandie" (ATAO Audio System) ; and Jeanne Gregoire from "Picardie" and Gérard Véniard from Roche (Banque Populaire).

The two from "Quimper" (again the North.), « Bilou » Roland Jourdain and Luc Nelias were just a step away from the 3rd place of the podium as they were 4 minutes only to the best time ! No regrets as the time separating the 4 first boats was inferior to an hour and the whole race was full of surprises, leaving none of the boats a chance to escape. Indeed, after the arrival of the last boat ("le Port Olona") skipped by Jimmy le Baut and Adrien Monsempes, only 22 hours had passed between the first and the 23 rd ! A sign that shows that anything could happen right until the very last moment.

Finally, let's congratulate Damien Seguin from "Briancon" and Denis Lemaitre who finished 14th on board of the " Des Pieds et des Mains " whose score is more than impressive taking into consideration that Damien was born without a left hand.

If all competitors arrived safely in Saint Barth, it's partly due to the partners of this event : Bruno Magras, the mayor of the island, Gilbert Le Bris, the deputy de Concarneau, Jean-Yves Le Drian, president of the general council of Bretagne, Jean-François Garrec, President of the chamber of commerce of Quimper-Cornouailles, Jacqueline Tabarly. See you at the next session ! See you at the next session !