RACERS in the Tour des Ports du Manche should arrive in Guernsey at midnight. The race, one of the biggest events on the Guernsey nautical calendar, came to a halt on Sunday before it had even started when about a dozen French trawlermen blocked the Normandy port of St Vaast La Hougue.

The protest was reportedly in support of a colleague who had been fined for breaching fishing regulations.

Yachts trying to leave for the first stage of the race were stuck and more than 700 crew were left in the harbour.

Peter Falla, marketing director at the Culture and Leisure Department, who is coordinating the hosting of competitors in the island, said that after the initial shock and frustration of the blockade the race was continuing, albeit delayed.

The plan was to race from St Vaast La Hougue to Cherbourg, then on to Dielette, Guernsey, Barneville-Carteret and Jersey, finishing on 13 July in Granville.

But following additional frustration caused by the weather, the racers now plan to leave Cherbourg at 5pm today and head straight for Guernsey.

A reception planned for this afternoon has had to be cancelled but Mr Falla said competitors would instead be given breakfast before they set off tomorrow morning.

Robert Zabukovec, a local competitor in the yacht Kreiz Er Mor, said: ‘The blockade was a nuisance and we have had to make up the time. It had nothing to do with us and it seemed that it was well organised by the trawlermen and appeared to have been arranged for some time.’