CLICK HERE FOR THUMBNAILS OF THE 48 PICTURES OF THE REGATTA

CLICK HERE FOR FINAL RACE RESULTS

The following is a short summary submitted by Gordon Davies to SCIRA:

61 Snipes came to Le Havre for this year's French Snipe Nationals from 29th
April to 1st May. Ten British boats made the trip over the Channel, other
nations represented with 18 additional boats were Belgium (5), Russia (3), Poland (3),
Germany (3), Denmark (1), Sweden (1), Norway (1) and the United States (1).
At nearly 70 years old the Snipe is still a truly international class.

Despite the determined efforts of the Belgian contingent - who finished 2nd,
3rd and 4th - and the remarkable performance of the girls from the Moscow
Sailing School (5th and 6th) who attracted as much attention on the water as
off -  French sailmaker Jean-Jacques Frébault, crewed by Gilles Boisaubert
emerged victorious, being in a position to discard a 6th place. Peter
Wolstenholm finished 8th in the first British boat. Gene Soltero flew in from
Dallas and finished 24th with a borrowed boat.

The three races run on Sunday will long have a place in the annals of the
class. The morning race fizzled out in a dying land breeze - only three
Snipes finished within the time limit. The afternoon races were sailed in a
Force 5 - ideal conditions for the Snipe!

The Société des Régates du Havre, the senior yacht club on continental
Europe (founded 1838) has long been associated with the senior international
one-design dinghy (1931) This association will continue in 2002 with the
Snipe European Junior Championships.

The French Nationals were the first leg of the three-nation Yves Le Bour
Challenge. The next leg will be the Southeastern Championships at Maldon
(1-2 July) and an open meeting organised on the Eau d'Heure in Belgium (30th
Sept - 1st October).