A close fought battle between Géant determined not to let anything go and Gitana 11, who turned out to have more a better vision in the end. Frédéric Le Peutrec and his crew were the only team to have managed to put Groupama behind them (Ed's note – on the 3rd round on Friday). Gitana X continued trying to upset the apple cart, leaving Tim in her rear view mirror on the last round of the day.

Gitana X did her very best today but the weather was just not right for her, with 10 knot S wind, dropping to less than five knots or strengthening to around fifteen. Boat and crew continued to score points demonstrating the progress made as they manage to keep up more and more with the rest of the fleet. 

Between Gitana 11, Géant and Banque Populaire, a hard-fought battle was expected. But after a difficult start to the day, Pascal Bidégorry did not manage to get back into the match. Michel Desjoyeaux was decidedly the most aggressive jockey, clocking up good scores between Saturday and Sunday. Everything was decided in the last round. Gitana 11 managed to withstand the pressure to take second in the Grand Prix de Marseille Métropole, on a level pegging points wise with Michel Desjoyeaux. But as Gitana 11 had actually won a round, they took the upper hand. Confirmation of the performance put on in the Grand Prix de Corse.

Rankings - Grand Prix de Marseille Métropole after nine rounds :

1-Franck Cammas - Groupama-2 (1+1+4+1+1+1+1+1+1) 12 points
2-Frédéric Le Peutrec - Gitana 11 (3+4+1+6+2+3+3+3+2) 27 points
3-Michel Desjoyeaux – Géant (4+2+5+3+4+2++2+2+3) 27 points
4-Pascal Bidegorry – Banque Populaire (2+3+2+4+3+6+6+5+5) 36 points
5-Armel Le Cléac'h – Foncia (5+5+3+2+6+4+4+4+4) 37 points
6-Giovanni Soldini – TIM Progetto Italia (7+6+7+5+5+5+5+6+7) 53 points
7-Thierry Duprey du Vorsent – Gitana X (6+7+6+7+7+7+7+7+6) 60 points

Provisional rankings - Orma Multihull Championship:

After the IB Group Challenge (weighting factor 3), the Grand Prix de Corse (weighting factor 1), the Giraglia Rolex Cup (weighting factor 0.5) and the Grand Prix de Marseille :

1-Pascal Bidegorry (Banque Populaire) 9 points (0+3+2+4)
2-Michel Desjoyeaux (Géant) 14.5 points (6+4+1,5+3)
3-Frédéric Le Peutrec (Gitana 11) 16.5 points (9+2+3,5+2)
4- Franck Cammas (Groupama-2) 21 points (21+0+0+0)
5- Armel Le Cléac'h (Foncia) 25 points (12+7+1+5)
6-Thierry Duprey du Vorsent (Gitana X) 29.5 points (15+5+2,5+7)
7-Giovanni Soldini (TIM-Progetto Italia) 66 points (51+6+3+6)
8ex-Thomas Coville (Sodebo) 87 points (51+18+9+9)
8ex-Yvan Bourgnon (Brossard) 87 points (51+18+9+9)

Crew - Gitana 11

Frédéric Le Peutrec (skipper), Yann Guichard (tactician), Baron Benjamin de Rothschild (performer-navigator), Jean-Baptiste Levaillant (trimmer), Daniel Souben (trimmer), Jean-Baptiste Epron (mainsheet), Alex Quiblier (wincher), Loïc Le Mignon (wincher), Antoine Mermod (pit), François Denis (foredeck / n°2), Christophe Lassègue (bowman / n°1)

Crew - Gitana X

Thierry Duprey du Vorsent (skipper-helm), Erwan Le Roux (tactician), Mayeul Riffet (pit-navigator), Jochen Krauth (trimmer), Mathieu Tatibouët (mainsheet), Yann Le Govic (mainsheet), Jacques Guichard (trimmer), Caroline Vieille (trimmer), Xavier Dagault (wincher), Antoine Carpentier (foredeck / n°2), Léopold Lucet (bowman / n°1)