Hosted by Societe de Regate Rochelais (SSR) in La Rochelle, France, 15 teams competed in the J/70 Coupe de France Regatta. The fleet was met by very challenging conditions, mostly windy, showers and clouds. In the end, after three days of racing and seven races completed, it was the Spanish team of GOLD SAILING that won the regatta by just one point. On the first day of racing, it was heavy winds, big winds and grey skies. Winning the first race was Herve Leduc’s JIBE SET with crew of Fabian Pic, Stephane Barraux and Mikael Garrett. Second was Bruno James’ French crew on LE McDONALDS CHERBOURG, and third was Iker & Almandoz Ortiglia’s GOLD SAILING from Spain. While the Race Committee at SSR was preparing to run the second race, the winds rapidly increased to 25-30 knots plus, so canceled racing for the rest of the day. For the second day of racing, it was more clouds, but this time it was an onshore breeze of 12 knots that gradually increased to 20 knots by the end of the day. Four races were run. McDONALDS CHERBOURG won the first race, then Leduc’s JIBE SET won the second and third races, then GOLD SAILING won the fourth race of the day. The racing was very tight amongst the top five boats. On the final day, more good breezes. By winning the first race, GOLD SAILING Spanish crew (Iker and Ortigala Almandoz, Borja Sumalac and Iraeta Sanhez) won the event since they could now include a toss-race in their scores. Taking second for the event was Leduc’s JIBE SET crew (Fabian Pic, Stephane Barraux, Mikael Garrett) just one point back. Third was McDONALDS CHERBOURG led by Bruno James and crew (Sebastien Metivier, Christian Potier & Hugues Dorriere) with 19 points. The balance of the top five included Laurent Sambron’s crew on HEMON CAMUS (Jean-Yves Jaffrezic, Benjamin Diouris, Pierre-Yves Tinel & Brewal Nael) with 22 points in fourth place and Cyrille Teston’s J BEC.RE crew (Jean Francios Nevo, Didier Le Moal & Bruno Gandolphe) in fifth position. Top woman skipper was Maxime Baudry’s crew on TEAM WINDS LA ROCHELLE (Etienne Mabit, Frederic Bouvier, Jean Francois Cruette & Clara Fortin) in sixth position overall. For more J/70 Coupe de France information, click here.