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The Estrella Damm team was a bit down about not winning the Nice to Barcelona leg of the Istanbul Europa Race in front of their home supporters. The Spanish boat crossed the finish line behind Groupe Bel and Foncia, after a tactical move failed to pay off, Guillermo Altadill explained “Yesterday we managed to pass Foncia when we got to Menorca. All around the south of the island we were fighting them and managed to stay ahead as they came to a standstill leaving Menorca and we got away. We opted to sail more in the centre whilst they chose to sail higher to the east and got better wind. They were becalmed for about two hours, whilst we were stuck for just over four hours.”

The third place added to the win in Nice means that Estrella Damm stays on top of the overall leader board, but Michel Desjoyeaux’s Foncia, with two seconds, and Kito de Pavant’s Groupe Bel with a third in Nice and victory in Barcelona are on the same points. That makes for a tense last leg to Brest. What is interesting is the evenness of the top boats, as Pachi Rivero explained “We are really equal and with more or less the same speed, although I think Groupe Bel is slightly quicker than the others, especially downwind.” Pic from Jacques Vapillon and more here.