Tour de France à la voile
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Tour de France à la voile is an annual yachting race around the coast of France. Inaugurated in 1978, it links the English Channel to the French Riviera and is held in July.
Famous skippers have taken part in the race, including the likes Loïck Peyron to the three time America's Cup winner Russell Coutts. The race is however, not reserved for professionals, and it also attracts amateurs and students thanks to three distinct rankings.
The race visits around ten harbours along the French coast. It includes one or two day coastal stages - that vary from year to year - as well as intensive regattas at the various ports. The boats are transported by road (trucks) midway through the race to from stages held in the Atlantic Ocean to those in the Mediterranean Sea.
[edit] Sailboat
Every team sails on the same type of boat in order that only the sailing skills of the teams are judged and not the boat engineering. The boats are about 10m long and are designed for racing with a crew of 7-8 sailors. A few boats replaced each other since the creation of the race:
- Écume de mer
- First 30
- Rush Royale
- Sélection
- JOD 35
- Mumm 30
[edit] List of previous winners
| Year | Boat | Skipper |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Marseille | François Paillou |
| 1979 | Dunkerque | Joé Setten |
| 1980 | Dunkerque | Damien Savatier |
| 1981 | Dunkerque | Damien Savatier |
| 1982 | Marseille | Jean-Paul Mouren |
| 1983 | Lanvéoc-Navale | Benoît Caignaert |
| 1984 | Europe | Philippe Hanin et Dominique d’Andrimont |
| 1985 | Côtes du Nord | Yannick Dupetit |
| 1986 | Le Havre | Benoît Caignaert |
| 1987 | Sète-Languedoc-Roussillon | Pierre Mas et Bertrand Pacé |
| 1988 | Sète-Languedoc-Roussillon | Pierre Mas et Bertrand Pacé |
| 1989 | Ronic Saône-et-Loire | Richard Sautieux |
| 1990 | Wasquehal | Hans Bousholte et Philippe Delhumeau |
| 1991 | La Ciotat | Laurent Delage |
| 1992 | Sodifac-Roubaix | Jimmy Pahun et Jean-Pierre Dick |
| 1993 | Saint-Quentin-en Yvelines | Thierry Péponnet |
| 1994 | Saint-Pierre et Miquelon | Alain Fédensieu |
| 1995 | Baume & Mercier – Force EDC-Paris | Bernard Mallaret |
| 1996 | Edouard Leclerc – Région SCASO | Vincent Fertin |
| 1997 | CSC - Sun Microsystems | Bertrand Pacé et Philippe Guigné |
| 1998 | Nantes & Saint-Nazaire - Bouygues Telecom | Luc Pillot |
| 1999 | Kateie | Luc Dewulf |
| 2000 | Barlo Plastics | Adrian Stead |
| 2001 | Virbac - St Raphaël - Générali | Jean-Pierre Dick |
| 2002 | Nantes St Nazaire | Pierre-Loïc Bethet |
| 2003 | CapSport | Xavier Lecœur et Bernard Mallaret |
| 2004 | Bouygues Telecom | Pierre Loïc Berthet |
| 2005 | Toulon Provence Méditerranée COYCHyères | Fabien Henry |
