Stéphanie Nadin, director of the Rockwool France Sail Grand Prix, is delighted to have "a stadium-shaped body of water" in Saint Tropez.

The stage was sold out several days before the crews' arrival. These ultra-fast catamarans promise a spectacular race, especially since the weather conditions could allow them to achieve speed records. Both the public and the professionals also appreciate the exceptional stadium offered by the Bay of Saint-Tropez.

" From a sporting point of view, it's an absolutely extraordinary international event ," acknowledges race director Stéphanie Nadin. "It's a body of water that's naturally shaped like a nautical stadium, which is practical for the races but also benefits our organization, to best present the event on television and in the stands set up along the port and at Nikky Beach. It's a bit of a hallmark of this Grand Prix ."

Mistral winner?

Saint-Tropez also promises a beautiful spectacle because Aeolus rarely leaves the bay. Stéphanie Nadin explains: " What we really like about this body of water is that we always manage to get a little bit of wind and put on a show. It's one of the reasons we came here five years ago for the first edition. We prepare a configuration according to the type of wind. We examine all directions to have a body of water ready to use."

Let's hope the wind allows it : "A strong mistral is forecast. We'll make the decision tomorrow morning [read this morning] after the call, what we call the morning weather meeting to decide whether the boats go out or not. We don't want to send them to the slaughter, because we have three events in a row, Saint-Tropez, then Geneva next week and just after Cadiz. We can't afford to break the boats. We'll wait until the last minute; it seems more reasonable not to make a hasty decision."

Once the decision has been made, an exclusion zone will be demarcated at sea : "It is maintained by race marshals, in other words race stewards, so that boaters do not enter this perimeter and disrupt the race ."

No more space on the site

The excitement surrounding the event is such that guests and VIPs aren't just concentrated on land. " There are nearly a thousand seats in the grandstands, plus a premium offer at Niki Beach, plus the boats that have purchased flags and are following the event at sea. We also have 17 super yachts that have registered for the program and reserved their places. Once again, we have prefectural and municipal decrees to regulate navigation in the water area. All the teams are in contact with our race committee, which provides guidelines for ensuring the safety of the events ."

Not to mention that thousands of people will be watching the races on their TVs. It remains to be hoped that France can take advantage of the wind and the venue to score points and improve its ranking.