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From left to right, Jean-Baptiste Le Vaillant, Loïck Peyron and Gilles André, win the 21st Trophée Clairefontaine des Champions de Voile at La Grande Motte. This is the eigth victory in this event by Loïck Peyron. Photo Jean-Marie Liot / SailingOne
Loïck Peyron marked the history of the Trophée Clairefontaine des Champions de Voile by winning this unique event the world over for the eighth time in his career. Already champion in 1990 during the first Trophée Clairefontaine, Loïck Peyron celebrated the twentieth anniversary of this competition by arriving ahead of Franck Cammas and Pascal Bidégorry. Loïck Peyron won the much coveted title of Champion of Champions at La Grande Motte, following Franck Cammas in 2009.
The 21st Trophée Clairefontaine was marked by the duel between Franck Cammas and Loïck Peyron. Non-stop, they exchanged the position of leader before Loïck Peyron snatched the title from him to win. However, Franck Cammas won the highest number of legs, with one Open Race and two Runs to his name. Loïck Peyron won two Runs. Luc Dubois (Team Alinghi - Switzerland) also won one Run, as did Armel Le Cléac'h, Michel Desjoyeaux and Pascal Bidégorry, totalling six winners out of eight champions.
The breeze wavered between force 1 and 3. Moreover a few gusts were felt at La Grande Motte, but also moments of devastating calm, which got the play underway again. In reality the eight champions all enjoyed a moment of glory, since they all took the leading position at least once.
Nicolas Charbonnier enjoyed some successful play and he even came very close to a victory in the eighth leg. However, this time, Michel Desjoyeaux sailed faultlessly and did leave him any opportunity. The presence of Serge Madec was a nice reference to the history of this competition. He was the first to win this unusual race. He enjoyed some good play, even when the wind was mischievous.
The Trophée Clairefontaine has demonstrated, once again, that this unique type of race the world over, uniting champions from different international sailing disciplines, is a recipe for success. It has not aged in twenty years, on the contrary. The suspense is complete, the atmosphere is intense and it is a wonderful show for the general public. Everything is done, down to the smallest details, to ensure that children and adults become fascinated by these battles so close to the stands.
This twentieth anniversary is an opportunity to celebrate the loyalty of Papeteries de Clairefontaine (Clairefontaine Stationery), partner of the Trophée des Champions® since it began, in 1990. Thanks to this family company, backed by the Fédération Française de Voile (French Sailing Federation), we have celebrated 67 champions of different nationality in twenty years. In the image of Loïck Peyron and his eight victories, it is a fine record.
Overall Ranking (nine legs): 1- Loïck Peyron (3,2,1,2,3,1,5,6,2), 63 pts ; 2- Franck Cammas (1,5,2,1,1,5,6,4,6), 57 pts ; 3- Pascal Bidégorry, (6,3,3,4,2,6,2,5,1), 53 pts ; 4- Michel Desjoyeaux (2,4,5,8,5,4,3,1,4), 48 pts ; 5- Luc Dubois - Team Alinghi (CH) (4,1,4,6,4,7,4,3,3), 47 pts ; 6- Nicolas Charbonnier, (5,6,7,3,DSQ,2,8,2,5), 35 pts ; 7- Armel Le Cléac'h (7,7,6,5,7,3,1,7,7), 33 pts ; 8- Serge Madec, (8,8,8,7,6,8,7,8,8), 13 pts.
Media relations: Sophie Grimaud / 06 15 04 77 87 / sophiegrimaud@voila.fr (Download the press release in PDF)
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