Ville de Genève Carrefour Prévention snatched a spectacular victory in this last race with a huge lead. The mimic typical Swiss lake conditions suit Etienne David and his crew who had nothing to lose and claimed their sixth victory in the regatta.

Suspense was amazing today. At the top mark, Ville de Genève Carrefour Prévention was leading, Nantes-S^t-Nazaire was in 4th and Région Ile de France in 11th. So Nantes-S^t-Nazaire was winning. At the leeward mark, Pierre-Loïc Berthet’s team, in 9th, was still the virtual winner but Jimmy Pahun’s crew were in 17th which meant they would be third overall. When the fleet rounded the windward mark for the second time, Région Ile de France had climbed back to 6th position while Nantes-S^t-Nazaire was in 4th, therefore Jimmy Pahun was the leader.

Everyone was holding their breath during the last run. Nantes-S^t-Nazaire remained in 4th. It’s only when Région Ile de France crossed the finish line, in 8th, that the winner’s name was eventually revealed. Last time, the Tour de France à la Voile saw such a close finish was in 1995 when Bernard Mallaret beat Chris Dickson by only a 0,25 point margin. The winning team were all joyful today after this most exciting final race. "We were three in the competition until the last minute. Everything went fine for us. We ’re really satisfied as this victory is the award of four years hard work", commented Pierre-Loïc Berthet on the pontoon after having had a sip of Champagne and before to been thrown to the water like everyone else. He then resumed the conversation : "We’ve had all sort of conditions. Gale winds, lack of wind, races cancelled and some fog in the Med. We’ve had it all, from Dunkerque to Nice and for us it’s just happiness", added the skipper of Nantes-S^t-Nazaire before dedicating this victory to their deceased crew member who accidentally fell from his hotel room last year at the end of the regatta. "We have a very special thought today for Manu who tragically left us last year".

Though disappointed to have been so close to winning, Jimmy Pahun proved sportsmanship today on the docks. "That’s life and that’s sport. The crew of Nantes-S^t-Nazaire were the best. Besides, I think that they had an extra crewmember with them, Manu and that carried them on. They are brilliant winners. They really wanted to win this event and they did it", said the skipper of Région Ile de France before summarising his regatta. "It started badly for us with many points lost in Dunkerque. Then, we were been excellent in the long offshore races. It will remain our best memories. We had a black day in Bayonne that probably cost us the final victory and we did very well in the Med. I’m proud of my crew. They did a great job and were really motivated".

The Swiss of Ville de Genève Carrefour Prévention were most happy, after a few bad days, they end this Tour de France à la Voile on a good note. "We’re really pleased to finish like this. We sailed very well today. It’s true that after the start today, as we were leading and saw Nantes-S^t-Nazaire and Région Ile de France far behind, we thought that we still had a chance. But the top three results I think are pretty logical. I say well done to both of them. I admire both team for what they’ve achieved", commented Etienne David.

Force EDC wins the student division

The student team comprised of Aussies, Brits and a Dutch girl onboard Force EDC have achieved their goal. They won the student division with an amazing lead and finished in tenth. " I guess we probably sort of won it (the student division) a couple of days ago but it was good to finish of today as first student, and 10th overall so we are happy with this being our first time and we did not really know what to expect coming to the event having not sailed Mumm 30’s before, having not sailed in the Tour Voile before, so we were really happy with the way that things have gone, and looking forwards to coming back next year and trying again. Without having a close look at it I think the Atlantic offshores is where we won the student division. I think that in one race we put 40 points on the other student so that probably where we won the student class and also established ourselves in the top ten in the offshore legs in the Atlantic, yeh".

Kirwan Robb skipper for next years event, speaks about the next Aussie campaign "Well the boats been brought and will arrive in Australia in one months time, so the we will just be setting it but and beginning to practice until early next year before we have to send the boats over on containers and I will be the skipper and that’s about it. We hope that having done it once that we will be able to do it better next year".

Panther Team GBR finishes 4th overall

Rob Greenhalgh skipper of the boat comments on his result. "4th overall was our new aim after a poor start to the event. We had a good last race and we sailed really well. It was really interesting to watch how the final race with Jimmy and Pierre-Loic panned out. We were right in the middle of them for the whole race and I think that Panther was a deciding factor in who won the race. I am looking forward to coming back next year, I’ll sail again with a similar team to this year. It has been a great regatta with an excellent atmosphere good sailing and it is definitely worth doing again".

Royal Thames finishes third amateur

Overall it has been the best event that I have ever done. It is a real test of your sailing, organisation Organisation #organisation , stamina and commitment. We have all loved it and definitely want to do it again. In terms of racing we did as well as could of been hoped. We were dragged down at the beginning by a couple of bad results and lack of experience but there is no doubt that our sailing has improved".

Isabelle Musy

Classement Tour de France à la Voile

 1. Nantes-S^t-Nazaire / Pierre Loic Berthet 1851,5 points
 2. Région Ile de France / Jimmy Pahun 1850 points
 3. Ville de Genève Carrefour Prévention / Etienne David 1838,25 points
 4. Panther Team GBR / Rob Greenhalgh 1713,5 points
 5. Défi Partagé / Thierry Bouchard 1698,25 points
 6. Marseille / Dimitri Deruelle 1655 points
 7. Ville d’Antibes –NEC / Julien Farnarier 1639 points
 8. Dieppe-Seine Maritime / Gildas Philippe 1624,5 points
 9. Côtes d’Armor Toztes Voiles dehors / Vincent Biarnes 1610,5 points
 10. Force EDC / Simon Sutherland 1597,5 points (1stclassement étudiant)
 11. Vitamine –Hyères COYCH / Nicolas Clément 1571,25 points
 12. Kenzo / Marc Thiercelin 1532,75 points
 13. Cassis Maugio Carnon / Bernard Mallaret 1489 points
 14. Téhoule Mandelieu / Sylvain Chtounder 1471,5 points
 15. CSC Essec / hervé Gautier 1382,5 points