The 40th edition of Spi Ouest-France in the Bay of Trinité-sur-Mer in Morbihan had good breeze all four days for the 374 boats and 2,500+ sailors. The host club Societe Nautique La Trinite sur Mer provided excellent race committee work. The J/70 fleet had 17 teams from across France, Spain and Russia. On Friday, fleets were faced with a moderate west to northwest breeze of 10 to 12 knots. On the J/70 course, three races were run. Starting off with two bullets and closing with a fourth on the day to lead the fleet was Herve Leduc’s PIERRE OCEANE. Just one point back was Sergey Alexei’s Russian/Spanish crew on NEW TERRITORIES with a 2-2-3. Then, Luc Sambron’s French crew on HEMON-CAMUS sailed steadily to a 4-3-2 to hold on for third. The second day saw the forecast strengthen over the earlier versions. The wind started at about 10 knots from the northwest, then it would back and build into the 20-25 knots range, gusting even higher. Easter Sunday, the fleet was greeted by grey skies, dark clouds and squalls dumping rain on the fleet all day long. However, again the breeze held strong, and all classes sailed in 13 to 20 knot winds. The J/70 fleet did not see any change in the overall standings after three more races, with Leduc’s PIERRE OCEANE still holding a commanding position on their competitors. On the final day, it was still more good breeze and for most fleets, just two more races. The lone exception was the J/70 fleet; after three more races for a total of 12, Leduc’s crew proved unstoppable, posting a 2-1-3 to close with 23 points total. Hanging on to their position since the first day was Alexei’s crew on NEW TERRITORIES, closing with a 4-2-1 to finish with 27 points. Then, while trading the top three spots in just about every race all weekend long with the first two teams, Sambron’s HAMON-CAMUS could not quite match the other’s consistency, completing his series with a 1-5-2 for 31 points and the bronze. For more SPI OUEST France Regatta information, visit https://www.ouest-france.fr/spi.