All to play for after day 1 of the French Nationals.

The French 2017 Nationals are organized by the Cercle de la Voile de Bordeaux, on the Lake of Maubuisson, the same spot as the 2014 Europeans as Thibault Laudren reports.

Holding this event now at the end of the French A Cat season seems to have found great interest, with 49 boats registered with sailors who have come a long way from Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands. 

First day saw 2 races in a sunny 8 to 12 knots breeze with the usual Maubuisson gusts, making the racing as much a tactical game than a speed contest with flat water great for high-speed foiling or typical classic wild-thing style when going downwind.

Emmanuel Dodé won the first race, Thibault Laudren ranked second and Jean-Louis Le Coq third. The same trio lead the second race with Thibault Laudren ahead this time around, Emmanuel Dodé second and Jean-Louis Le Coq scoring another third.

On the general ranking, Laudren is leading with equal points to Dodé and Le Coq third.

Micky Todd, Albert Roturier and André Casanova are the top 3 in the Classic division.

Tomorrow forecasts are for light winds, with certainly little foiling opportunity. That will potentially shuffle the general ranking and see the classics smile at the end of the day !

Photos are online at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2003454103268913.1073741834.1644648889149438&type=1&l=6af5020c0a