The Coupe Internationale du Midi, Bordeaux, 15 – 18 April

To understand French Optimist regattas, it is first necessary to have a little knowledge of the scale and organisation of the French Optimist fleet. When their sail numbers were approaching 24,000 the French turned the clock back to zero, and they have now reached nearly 1,200 in the second cycle. As at December 2000 there were about 1,200 French Optimist sailors with a national classification, compared to the UK national ranking list of 200. So altogether, they have about 5 times as many boats, and about 6 times as many racing sailors as we have in the UK fleet.

Their fleet is divided into Seniors (‘Minimes’) and Juniors (‘Benjamins’), but the cut-off point is a year younger than ours. Sailors with an Oppy age of 12 are classed as Seniors. Within these two groups they classify all of their racing sailors into 3 divisions, with Division 1 being the strongest sailors and Division 3 the weakest. The December 2000 classification showed the following numbers of sailors in each group:

THE TOTAL FRENCH OPTIMIST FLEET AS AT DECEMBER 2000

Minimes    Benjamins

Division 1 192 79

Division 2 308 147

Division 3 345 145

Because of the size of the French fleet, entry to French regattas (for French sailors) is often restricted to specific divisions or specific regions. Foreign entries are accepted at certain events, and foreign competitors are not obliged to pre-qualify for these.

The Coupe Internationale du Midi is one of the biggest events in the French calendar, approximately equivalent to our Inland Championships, and it is open to foreign competitors. For French sailors, the qualification for the CIM is Seniors Divisions 1 and 2 and Juniors Division 1 only. So this year’s entry list of 210 in Minimes Division 1, 117 in Minimes Division 2 and 54 Benjamins included the cream of the French fleet. Organising an event with 380 competitors can be no easy task!

A Swiss contingent of about 30 boats was the largest group of visitors among half a dozen foreign countries represented. Great Britain was represented by Tom Smedley, William Morgan and Tom Barnes in Senior Fleet Division 1, where Lisa and Geoff Tait from Ireland also competed. Sophia Parkinson, a UK Junior but Oppy-age 12, was making the step up to the Senior Fleet in France and raced in Division 2. Emma Parkinson was making an even bigger step up from the UK Regatta Fleet to Juniors Division 1.

Racing in both Senior Fleets was organised in four colour groups, racing against each other in two separate starts, as at the UK Inlands or End of Season. All the courses were trapezoid (or ‘Carentec’) type courses, with Minimes Division 1 racing on one course, and Minimes Division 2 sharing a separate course with the Benjamins.

Tom Smedley reports as follows: "The competition at the CIM was really good, all the top French being there with their World and European teams, all the top Swiss sailors as it was also their Selectors as well as Irish, Maltese and Finns. The weather was hot and the winds were steady, the people were really friendly and the racing was well organised. The sailing is not actually on the sea, but on a huge lake. There were loads of cool surf shops and beach cafés because of the really good surfing beaches nearby.

In Minimes Division 1, there were 210 sailors. After 6 races the fleet was split in two, the Or (gold) and Argent (silver). All the British got in the gold, which was quite hard as they took 90 French and only 10 foreigners! The start lines were really good practice and the rule observance was much better than events like Carentec as this was one of their Pre-Selectors.

Day 1: Wind F2-F3 from the North East and quite choppy and hot. Results: Tom Smedley had a good start winning the first race. Will Morgan had a good day finishing with a 5^th. Tom Barnes had a really consistent first day and was lying 9^th by the end of it.

Day 2: Wind F3 building to F4 and really hot again! Nearly time for Shorties! Results: A mixed day for the Brits, the two Toms having top 10s. Sadly Will and Tom Barnes had to leave to go back to sunny Weymouth at the end of the 2^nd day. They were both in the top 25 when they had to leave.

Day 3: Wind very like the first day but was more shifty. Not quite as warm and even a bit of rain! Results: Tom Smedley had a 6^th in the last race and finished 7^th overall."

Ireland’s Lisa Tait won Minimes D1 with a really consistent performance – 6 results in the top 11, including a win and two seconds. Her twin brother Geoff finished just behind Tom Smedley in 8^th position.

Sophia Parkinson was one of the youngest competitors in Seniors Division 2. "On the first day I did 3 races, my best being 30^th out of 58. We had 3 more races on each of the next two days, and I finished on a high note with a 15^th and a 3^rd. Overall I came 50^th out of 117. It was a very good event, we made some French friends, had a good time and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to go to a good regatta at the start of the season."

Emma Parkinson sailed in the Benjamin fleet. "The first day was perfect, sunny, breezy and the waves were not too big. The Benjamins did 2 races a day whereas the Minimes did 3. I was racing against the top Juniors in France and they are really good! I got an OCS and a 50^th. The second day was windier and it was wavy. Everyone nose-dived loads, and I got lots of water in my boat! I came 41^st and 47^th. The last day was the best ever – sunny and perfect for me and Sophia my sister. I got a 42^nd and….38^th! Overall I came 51st out of 54. I really enjoyed it!"

The venue is a pleasant place for dinghy racing, marred only by inadequate parking for a fleet of this size (it is set in a national park, so this problem cannot be easily remedied). At the prize-giving, the president of the club apologised that the buildings were tattier than they would have liked, because their lease had come to an end. But the club was hoping to sign a renewal shortly and they intended to smarten the place up for the summer.