Video: Groupama win first off-shore leg in Tour de France a la Voile

Groupama leaves it late to clinch victory in the first off-shore leg of the Tour de France a la Voile on Monday.

The first offshore leg of the Tour de France a la Voile got underway on Monday – a sprint from Dunkirk, France to Breskens, Holland.

The fleet started at 9pm local time in calm conditions: sailing downwind in 12 knots of wind on flat seas.

At the first transition buoy the OmanSail Team took the lead – but trouble soon followed.

Contact between Bretagne Crédit Mutuel and Sodebo broke the bowsprit off Thomas Coville’s boat (Sobedo). Sobedo’s crew improvised their spinnaker from the bow causing the boat’s performance to suffer.

After dusk the wind reached 20 knots and peaked at 25 knots during the night.

In the dark of night, surfing down the face of waves at speeds approaching 20 knots, the sailors had to navigate numerous perils: cargo ships, fishing buoys and geographical hazards.

The sailors completed the leg in 12 hours, surfing downwind under spinnakers from 9pm – 2am. They rounded a mark just of Rotterdam and then sailed upwind to Breskens until 7am.

The fleet were rewarded with a final hour under spinnaker before crossing the finish in Breskens. Groupama overtook OmanSail just 20 nautical miles from the finish, finishing 54 seconds ahead of them, while Bretagne Crédit Mutuel claimed third on the podium.