Franck Cammas on Groupama-2 had such a lead in the Grand Prix de Marseille Métropole Multihull 60 event that he needn’t have raced the final leg yesterday. However, he once again took to the water and, not surprisingly, won. Behind him the competition was wide open between Michel Desjoyeaux, Frédéric Le Peutrec, Pascal Bidegorry and Armel Le Cléac’h. The ninth and final leg of the Grand Prix of Marseille Métropole proved decisive, and it was Gitana 11 which snatched second.

With Groupama-2’s outright domination after a faultless grand slam, the Grand Prix was all about the battle for second place, a match that was wide open. Michel Desjoyeaux made a superb comeback by scoring three second places in a row, just ahead of frontrunner Frédéric Le Peutrec.

Meanwhile during the first leg of the day, Pascal Bidegorry was having considerable difficulty withstanding the pressure: he dropped from second to last as he was becalmed while leading the first windward leeward race. Banque Populaire dropped to fourth overall though Michel Desjoyeaux and his crew were right on the pace, as they finally managed some great starts and some contact racing.

The tack towards Pointe Rouge was favourable but the fleet had to head in closer towards Frioul in line with the shift from the thermal breeze. Foncia came back into the action with a vengeance, which augurs well for skipper Armel Le Cléac’h..

Franck Cammas has racked up 11 Grand Prix victories since his arrival on the Orma circuit (in 1995), just a single win down on Loïck Peyron (twelve Grand Prix), leader since 2002.

The next rendezvous is in Vigo (Spain), another Grand Prix, which should reveal the differential between the four current leaders in the Multihull Championship.

Results (Grand Prix of Marseille Métropole Ranking after nine legs)

1-Franck Cammas – Groupama-2 (1 1 4 1 1 1 1 1 1) 12 points

2-Frédéric Le Peutrec – Gitana 11 (3 4 1 6 2 3 3 3 2) 27 points

3-Michel Desjoyeaux – Géant (4 2 5 3 4 2 2 2 3) 27 points

4-Pascal Bidegorry – Banque Populaire (2 3 2 4 3 6 6 5 5) 36 points

5-Armel Le Cléac’h – Foncia (5 5 3 2 6 4 4 4 4) 37 points

6-Giovanni Soldini – TIM Progetto Italia (7 6 7 5 5 5 5 6 7) 53 points

7-Thierry Duprey du Vorsent – Gitana X (6 7 6 7 7 7 7 7 6) 60 points

Temporary ranking in the Orma Multihull Championship

1-Pascal Bidegorry (Banque Populaire) 9 points (0 3 2 4)

2-Michel Desjoyeaux (Géant) 14.5 points (6 4 1,5 3)

3-Frédéric Le Peutrec (Gitana 11) 16.5 points (9 2 3,5 2)

4- Franck Cammas (Groupama-2) 21 points (21 0 0 0)

5- Armel Le Cléac’h (Foncia) 25 points (12 7 1 5)

6-Thierry Duprey du Vorsent (Gitana X) 29.5 points (15 5 2,5 7)

7-Giovanni Soldini (TIM-Progetto Italia) 66 points (51 6 3 6)

8ex-Thomas Coville (Sodebo) 87 points (51 18 9 9)

8ex-Yvan Bourgnon (Brossard) 87 points (51 18 9 9)