French F18 Nationals 2015 – Serious battle between Mourniac’s

From 14-17th May 2015 the French Formula 18 Nationals were held in Loctudy. Four days of racing was planned and 26 fanatic teams showed up at the startline. In the end Jean-Christophe Mourniac (senior) just managed to stay ahead of his son Tim Mourniac (junior). The only question is how long senior can tame junior…

On the first day no races were held. “The weather was really bad, I think about 40 knots of breeze. So I grabbed the moment to do some coaching in the afternoon for all class members. This was really well received and the sailors enjoyed it”, says Jean-Christophe Mourniac. “On the second day conditions were much better. With 10-14 knots of breeze the organization managed to have four races that day. The wind was very shifty and you could see the experience of Pierre-Yves Durand. He’s a local and knows the bay like no other. Together with Tim as helm they beat us almost every race.”

On the third day things were about to change. Mourniac: “The breeze came from the same direction, but was much stronger and building up to 18 knots. Again four races were done that day and we won three races and had equal points with Tim.” From that moment it was going to be the big question who would win this French Nationals. Three teams could win and it would be decided on the final day.

“It was going to be a long sunday. No wind at all in the morning and we had to wait till the thermal wind came in the afternoon. Finally we could start and it was a real battle untill the finish. At the first mark Riwan Perron & Solune Robert were third, Tim & Pierre-Yves fourth and we arrived in fifth position. Downwind we passed both teams and were third, Riwan/Solune fourth and Tim/Pierre-Yves fifth. During the final downwind Tim overtook Riwan and we could just finished in front of them!” laughs Mourniac.

It was not only a very nice battle between father and son. Jean-Christophe explains why they were all very happy with this overall result. Mourniac: “It was a fantastic moment for Team Grandeur Nature ending up on the podium with a 1st and 2nd place. This is also a very nice warm-up for our participation in the Tour de France a la Voile in July where we’ll crew with Frédéric Duthil. But,.. all this would not been possible without the perfect organization of the F18 class and the Loctudy sailing club. Compliments!”

Results:

1. Duthil/J.C. Mourniac (18 points)
2. T. Mourniac/Durand (20 points)
3. Perron/Robert (22 points)
4. Boulogne/Fanouillere (29 points)
5. Neiras/Rucard (39 points)

Full results can be found here.
More photos of the event can be found in the Facebook album of the French NCA
Photo credits: Eric Bellande – www.direct-image.fr