Groovederci USA 706 wins the 2011 Farr 30 World Championship!
Skipper Deneen Demourkas, Tactician Cameron Appleton, Main Trimmer Darren “Twirler” Jones, Bowman Andrew Hudson, Trimmers Cameron Biehl and Austin Herlihy, Floater Patrick Gavin-Byrnes.
The odds were stacked against her… See how Deneen took on the world and won !
Yes! Deneen Demourkas was the only woman skipper on in this year’s Tour de France a la Voile. Watch the interview below with Deneen to hear the why, where, when and how in her own words.
Groovederci takes 4th in the 2010 Tour de France a la Viole!
Both Groovederci and Courrier Dunkerque were dismasted Friday in the offshore leg from Marseille to La Seyne-sur-Mer. The highly anticipated Mistral conditions brought the breeze we had been looking for all month long! Breeze at the start was in the 20 knot range and a large swell spoke of more breeze to come. We were sitting in fourth at the time we dropped our rig, about 18 miles from the rounding mark. The wind was in the low 30’s, masthead up, we were hurling down waves then skipping across the windblown surface of the sea. I was having the time of my life, grinning from ear to ear, loving every minute of this downwind blast and then BANG! The backstay had parted…and so then the rig.
Interestingly enough, I think that Dunkerque and Groove were the only two team carrying around spare rigs! Both teams set to work immediately upon arrival and within two hours, the new mast was built and installed. Special thanks to the French Navy who assisted in the operation with a crane on one of their ships.
The party that took place in the “pikey camp” on a night when there was no racing the following day. The theme was roman which quickly lead to togas and chariots. Its a long video but the end is when the good stuff happens!
We have finally arrived the Med… It’s amazing to me that almost three weeks of sailing have gone bye. Unfortunately, I’m feeling like we peaked too late as opposed to our last venture here when we peaked too early. After winning the offshore to Royan (huge in my book as we had never ever won an offshore here) we had “event winning results”, only a bit too late in the game. Our inshore and offshore specialist teams are set by now and everyone is comfortable in their rolls on board. The team has “gelled” as it would and we are ready for the short Med legs, fighting to the bitter end!
With a first place finish in hand the Groovederci Team has a lot to celebrate! Check out the local news videos below from the frogs across the pond.
We had taken off from the start with the leading 7 to 8 boats. Eventually took the lead around 30 miles from the finish. After rounding the mark at the entrance to the bay, the wind shut down and we were passed by Dunkerque with fifteen miles to go. The wind completely shut down (again) about two miles from the finish, the boat was making .09 to 1. of COG (0.00 Boat Speed) with the current sweeping along the shore and then pushing towards the finish. Dunkerque had drifted inside and were faster than us.
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