Lot of wind today in Marseille. The Mistral is blowing at consistently over 30 knots and the seas are big. So I took some dock shots of the teams preparing the stuffed this morning.

Carrying a 1.5 points bounty the win their third of the Marseille Trophy so far, gives the 2008 Audi MedCup champions a lead of 4.5 points over Matador who stole third in the closing stages of a spectacular, exciting coastal race.

It was pure, distilled, classic Marseille. Winds peaked at nearly 25 knots with big seas to ride on the 10 miles downwind leg to the turning mark off Cassis, the scenic little town which lies in a quiet bay cut from the towering cliffs. On the downwind leg the sustained surfing action was quite simply as good as it gets, and on the return leg along the base of the cliffs, it is fantastic, powerful upwind sailing in flatter water.

© Chris Schmid

Banque Populaire with Pascal Bidégorry crossed the line two hours later and the Saffram with avec Yann Guichard came in third, but by 06:00 only six boats had come in.

Light winds have hampered the race, which can vary from a shortest-ever time of about five hours to two full days for the leading boats.

Bertarelli, sister of Ernesto Bertarelli of Alinghi fame, races Ladycat during the Lake Geneva season with an international team of women sailors. Rol is a materials sciences student.

© Chris Schmid

The boat was launched in 2007 and was used to support the World Heart Federation’s international campaign, Go Red for Women campaign to promote awareness of cardiovascular disease in women.

In April Ladycat announced its new partnership with mavietonsang, the Vaud regional blood transfusion service in Epalinges, to draw attention to the need for blood donors and the work of the group.

This weekend I’ll be at the Bol d’Or in the Geneva Lake, the conditions for the moment look not so bad with a wind of 8-9 nots. I’ll let you know some news before the start of the race on Saturday June 12th at 10AM. Okalys team seems to be the favorite for the race after its great regatta at the Genève-Rolle-Genève last weekend.

Finally next weekend (June 18th to 20th) I’ll be in Marseille, France, for the 2010 Audi Medcup. The Audi Medcup is ackowlegded as the top regatta Circuit in the world today and attracts the very best designers, sailors and technicians. This has inspired many owners and professional sailing teams to compete on the Circuit and to continue to participate along the five year history of what has become Audi MedCup tour.