A rare sight at the GPEN: Lufthansa encounters a dolphin

First joint 1st place in the overall classification!

What a fantastic regatta! Beautiful weather, plenty of wind, exceptional water conditions, sport like one would like to see it more often – in short, a combination of exactly the right ingredients perfectly blended for a superb weekend on the water. The close race during this 8th Grand Prix was full of exciting twists and turns.  The Longtze Premier teams mainly used tactics and strategy leading to big days of regattas featuring bow-to-bow racing.

For its first time participating in the Grand Prix de l’Ecole Navale, the Lufthansa Longtze Team finished fourth after the eight laps. It was Athema, Erwan Tabarly’s boat that ultimately won the Grand Prix de l’Ecole Navale. The situation has therefore changed a great deal since the Primo Cup de Monaco, the first Longtze European Tour event of 2009, which was won by Nicolas Béranger (Kone). The first place in the overall classification of the Tour is therefore jointly held by Guillaume Florent of Longtze Racing (FRA806) and Luc Gellusseau of the Lufthansa Longtze Team (FRA818), since both have 19 points in total.

Things will get exciting again ten days from now during the third event of the Tour, "Deauville Week". Next meet: in Deauville, on 4-7 June!

Don’t forget to try your luck in "Lufthansa Sailing Cup – The Game" in the meantime: test your skills as a skipper on this online course featuring 16 gates. Some fantastic prizes are up for grabs and great fun can be had navigating your Lufthansa Longtze on your computer to the sound of lapping waves and cawing gulls…

Overall classification in the Grand Prix de l’École Navale (according to the jury)
1. Erwan TABARLY (France) – ATHEMA – FRA 822
2. Guillaume FLORENT (France) – LONGTZE RACING – FRA 806
3. Ariane PROVOST / Stéphane CHRISTIDIS (France) – ECOLE NAVALE – FRA 805
4. Luc GELLUSSEAU (France) – LUFTHANSA – FRA 818
5. Andreas Beinz (Allemagne) – BROKER LINE – SUI 812
6. Eckhard KALLER (Suisse) – BROKER LINE 3 – SUI 815
7. Ronan TREUSSART (France) – LONGTZE RACING
8. Nicolas BERENGER (France) – KONE MONOSPACE – FRA 820
9. Arthur LEVAILLANT (France) – KONE MAXISPACE – FRA 821
10. Jacques VAN DEN HEUVEL (Hollande) – ANCRE DE CHINE – NED 808

Overall classification in the 2009 Longtze European Tour 
1. Guillaume FLORENT (France) – LONGTZE RACING (19 points)
2. Luc GELLUSSEAU (France) – LUFTHANSA (19 points)
3. Erwan TABARLY (France) – ATHEMA (17 points)
4. Nicolas BERENGER (France) – KONE MONOSPACE (17 points)
5. Eckhard KALLER (Suisse) – BROKER LINE 3 (16 points)
6. Ariane PROVOST / Stéphane CHRISTIDIS (France) ECOLE NAVALE (15 points)
7. Andreas Beinz (Allemagne) – BROKER LINE (15 points)
8. Arthur LEVAILLANT (France) – KONE MAXISPACE (7 points)
9. Marc EMIG (France) - LONGTZE RACING (7 points)
10. Ronan TREUSSART (France) – LONGTZE RACING (5 points)
11. Heiko FALCH (Germany) - LA JAUNE (3 points)
12. Jacques VAN DEN HEUVEL (Hollande) – ANCRE DE CHINE (2 points)
13. Ivo MARCONI (Monaco) - INCENTIVE CONCEPT (2 points)

Here are a few photos from the regatta: