Marseille International Match Race - France

The 6^th edition of the Marseille International Match Race (MIMR) just took place this year from March 11^th to March 15^th. Organized by the Yachting club de la Pointe Rouge (Marseille, France), it attracted this year the top four skippers in the world of match racing.

The MIMR has established itself as the place where the best in the world can meet in the Mediterranean on totally identical boats (J80 which are provided by the Yachting club de la Pointe Rouge in order to make sure they are all identical) with a crew of four. It leaves only their tactical and technical performances to settle who is best. This year 6 nationalities participated.

From the very beginning the organizers of the Marseille International Match Race have insisted on the event being open to the general public. In partnership with the Office de la Mer, the Régates en Vue (name of the operation run by the Marseille Office de la Mer) project lay on a passenger vessel each day of racing to carry the public onto the water, as close as possible to the racing area, and with specialist commentaries provided. This sport lends itself to this approach, as the rules of match racing are simple: basically, two boats race against each other and the first one to cross the finish line wins.

The 2008 edition of the Marseille International Match Race drew to a close on March 15^th. Four days of racing, with the wind setting the tone and the pace. Two days in extreme conditions with windspeeds of more than 30 knots and heavy seas, a morning of nothing at all, and at last optimal conditions for Match Racing.

And in the end, the World Number One was the winner of the 2008 MIMR, so the hierarchy of the sport was respected.

-- About Marseille --

Marseille is famous for its “calanques”.
Between Callelongue and Port Pin, along a coast line of 20 kilometers, magnificent white cliffs rise vertically from the sea. Nobody can resist the fascination of such harmony, made of the infinity of the sea and the divine madness of the cliffs whose sharp peaks and colossal fortresses strive towards heaven.

The Calanques, these emeralds fingers between the rocks, were created 12 000 years ago when a gradual warming after the ice ages made the sea rise to flood the valleys. In this way, the islands of the Riou Archipel were also formed.
The natural conditions sunshine, wind and dryness have given birth to a plant life which is rich in its diversity, with some rare and fragile species. For example, the « Gouffé » grass exists nowhere else in the world. These species must be preserved. Man, in the pas centuries, let herds of goats graze here and built pens and lime kilns, of which the ruins can still be seen. Of this human settlement, only the fishermen’s huts of Sormiou and Morgiou remain a living example.

Plant life around Marseille

Even though the hills around the calanques often have barren landscapes there are in fact approximately 900 species of plants. Fifty or so of these species are rare and fifteen are protected by law making the site of considerable interest to botanists.
Cliffs and screed slopes are not without plant life: this rocky landscape can even shelter very rare species that are protected by law. The triangular-leafed scolopendrium fern, for example, only now exists in France in the cracks and rocky cavities of Marseille coast and its islands.

"Gouffé Grass”, that only exists in the world between Marseille and Toulon, only really grows well in the screed slopes of the Calanques. It is therefore strongly recommended to not walk on the screed slopes.

Wildlife around Marseille

The main interest for bird watchers in the Calanques lies in the cliffs that are nesting sites for a number of rare and unusual birds such as Bonelli's Eagle, the Peregrine Falcon and the Great Horned Owl.

- Christine Aronen

Sailing Photos: Marseille International Match Race by Gilles Martin Raget

Photo Below: Marseille International Match Race Sailing Crew by Gilles Martin Raget