First for Drouglazet and Pellecuer

As Tour de Bretagne a la Voile concludes in La Trinite-sur-Mer

Finishing 12th on the last leg of the Figaro class' Tour de Bretagne à la voile into La Trinité-sur-Mer, was enough to secure Eric Drouglazet and Laurent Pellecuer (below) first place, following on from Nicolas Lunven and Charles Caudrelier's victory on this race, anti-clockwise around the coast of Brittany, two years ago.

Dominating the race since Brest's two inshore races, Luisina's crew beat Fred Duthil and François Lebourdais on Bbox Bouygues Telecom and Thomas Rouxel and Sébastien Josse on Défi Mousquetaires.



The last leg was between Piriac-sur-mer and La Trinité-sur-mer. Propelled by a strong northeasterly wind, the 34 Figaro-Bénéteaus competing in this seventh running of the race quickly reached Quiberon Bay en masse with just four having broken away.

Eventually it was down to Thierry Chabagny and Alexis Littoz on Suzuki and Thomas Rouxel and Sébastien Josse's Défi Mousquetaire who match raced to the line, followed by 2009 Solitaire winner Nicolas Lunven and Jean Le Cam on CGPI.

This was a second leg win for Chabagny and Littoz, a young match race expert. "We had to keep a hold over our adversaries to prevent being passed," said Chabagny. "This made for a quite physical finish right up until the end! That is the advantage of having a match racing specialist as a teammate... he really enjoys holding competitors at bay!"

Second on this leg, Thomas Rouxel and Sébastien Josse on Défi Mousquetaire claimed third overall finishing right on Suzuki's transom and right in front of Lunven and le Cam.

However Thomas Rouxel could enjoy a final podium position on the 2009 Tour de Bretagne. "It was a pretty tight finish. It was really hot. We are quite happy. The race could have gone on and on, we were going better and better!"

Finishing 12th in their own match race with Jean-Pierre Nicol and Frédéric Rivet‘s Gavottes, Eric Drouglazet and Laurent Pellecuer, the overall leaders since Brest's inshore race ar the overall winners. "The goal was keeping in touch with Bbox, which we did. And we even managed to pass a few other boats," analysed Drouglazet, skipper of Luisina. "We kept our rival in sight and from there it all went smoothly. What a relief!" said his co-skipper Pellecuer.

Before leaving Loire-Atlantique, Drouglazet and Pellecuerwere 15 points ahead of Fred Duthil and François Lebourdais. The finish the overall results 12 points ahead of Bbox Bouygues Telecom's crew. "Beyond the victory, we have this feeling of a job well done," continues Drouglazet. "We have done a very good job. We had no weak points. We were good on the starts, we were aggressive at the marks, and we sailed the last leg as we needed to."

Ninth of the seventh leg, the crew of Bbox Bouygues Telecom have ensured their second place on the podium. But tThe last race almost ended prematurely for them. "We broke a spreader shortly before arriving," explained François Lebourdais showing his damaged spar in La Trinité's marina. "Yet we succeeded in crossing the finish line albeit very slowly. We saved the mast and the second place overall!" Fred Duthil pointed out that if the incident had happened earlier in the day, they wouldn't have made it.



Right in front of them, young Fabien Delahaye and Paul Meilhatend (above) racing their first Tour de Bretagne a la Voile in were the rookie victors. They finish ninth overall, to claim the first rookie prize in the history of the Tour. " Samsung Mobile (Brault et Koch) won the rookie's last stage, but we won the overall rookie prize," said Delahaye. "This is more than positive seeing the number of boats and the skill of the competitors." » reminds the young man from Caen. Joseph Brault and Antoine Koch take the second place.

The sole British entry, Jonny Malbon and Nick Bubb on Artemis Ocean Racing came home 27th overall.

The next Tour de Bretagne a la Voile will take place in two years time.

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