Solitaire du Figaro - Elusive gate way to Spain
July 31, 2003

A sleepless night under heavy skies for the 42 competitors in the Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro trying to work their way north in search of speed and pressure in north-westerly 18 to 20 knot winds. The fleet were sailing upwind through the islands in messy seas, against the currents and light shifty winds. Tactics and technique have been the essence of this first night at sea, marked by the light progression of the fleet. This morning the fleet were displaying the solitary speeds of 1 to 2 knots. By lunch time some of them had split into two groups, some a little further out to sea or towards the coast, advancing slowly north to the west of the “Ile d'Yeu”, towards the islands of Brittany. At the last Argos positioning at 09h30 Alain Gautier was leading, followed by Michel Desjoyeaux, Yann Elies and Armel Le Cleac’h the first 10 boats grouped into less than 4 miles, with rookie Yves Le Blevec and Jeanne Gregoire in a stunning 7th and 12th place respectively, despite the latter’s electronics problems since the start. Sam Davies is still in a creditable 23rd sailing close to last year’s Solitaire winner, Kito de Pavant and Loick Peyron. Together they are making heavy work of the stretch between the islands of Oléron and Belle Ile, bound for a gateway at Lorient. The passage of this will dictate whether the fleet are able to descend directly down to Spain or whether they will head instead for the Glénans.

Currently the Azores High is controlling a ridge of high pressure which is gradually subsiding in the Bay of Biscay with a small isolated zone of high pressure centred to the immediate south-west of Belle-Ile at 1022 hPA at 1200 UT. The wind is weak and variable in direction and may drop away to nothing during the day. At 12UT, position Nord (North) Yeu, pressure 1021 hPa, there were variable 2 to 6 knot winds and westerly seas of 1 to 1.5 metres. Later tonight the Large Vendée zone is forecast to have 1 to 5 knots with a high risk of persistent low cloud.

At the morning rankings it was Yann Eliès (Groupe Générali Assurances) who was leading the Figaro fleet despite heading right out to sea on his own initially before changing his mind and rejoining the fleet. Hot on his heels were Romain Attanasio (Port Trébeurden) and Thierry Chabagny (Petit Navire Le Bon Goût du Large), upwind on a direct course, in the search for a shift out to sea. 38 (out of 42) racers were grouped within 3.8 miles. Difficult to make out what’s what in such circumstances except to say that Jérémie Beyou (Delta Dore), Charles Caudrelier (Bostik Findley) and Alain Gautier (Foncia), seemed to have taken the inshore option on the look out for a thermal breeze.

At the early morning radio session, the ambiance was particularly studious in white-capped seas. Pascal Bidégorry (Région Aquitaine), was experiencing autopilot worries while Jeanne Grégoire (Skipper Ag2r) had electronic problems but remained on level pegging with Brit Sam Davies at 0330 BST. Laurent Pellecuer (Cliptol Sport) meantime was stuck with a stubborn mainsail halyard and was hoping to make use of the light conditions and attempt to scale the mast again when able to anchor south off “Ile d’Yeu”. This morning he was sailing with small jib alone.

Quotes from the Boats:

Michel Desjoyeaux (Géant) at the lunch time radio session: “There was a little wind yesterday and we managed to tack our way up the coast and the sailing was good. Since then the wind has really really really dropped off and there’s a little swell left which is not easy. I don’t know where the others are though I can see two boats beside me. I don’t know who they are but I imagine they’re in the top three! We spent yesterday weaving along the coast in a dense group so I didn’t get any sleep at all. I was constantly on deck looking around. Loic (Peyron) and Bidegorry passed ahead of me during the night at one stage. Apart from that I haven’t had any other encounters – I didn’t see any mermaids!”

Jeanne Grégoire (Skipper AG2R) at the early morning radio session: "On the start line I encountered some electronic problems with major pilot problems. I still haven’t found the solution for that even though I’ve been working on it all night. I managed to sleep a little and we’ll see how I’m going to handle it in the coming hours. I have already managed to find the systems to hold the boat, but unfortunately that’s not going to last long. My boat and I are in the same hassles so we’re getting on well." By lunch time Jeanne said the “boat was still holding out but I don’t know if it is going to last to Bilbao. I’m not letting go. I’m still in the midst of the action as I can see three little white points in the distance and a couple of other close by. For now I’m the first woman but Sam’s not far off behind. My spirits were a bit low this morning with all the problems I’ve had but I feel better now that I’ve seen the latest positions. I currently keeping a firm hold on Yves Le Blevec.” Sam Davies (Skandia): “I knew it was going to be hard – that’s why I’m here!”

Yann Eliès (Groupe Générali Assurances): "Conditions have eased since the beginning of night and I hope that a little bit of wind will hold on. The first night is never easy as you never know when to sleep or not. Personally I decided to rest a little, to relax my back above all. For the moment the boat is not stable enough to to heat up the water. My only pleasure was a little Suchard!

Pascal Bidégorry (Région Aquitaine): “I’ve been tacking upwind all night. Yesterday my autopilot set off the “man overboard” option and I went backwards at least 400 metres. I lost a bit of time re-establishing it. I had a little light patch at the level of the “île d’Yeu” with the wind dropping to 7 knots but now I’m off again with 12 knots. I’m waiting for a west south-westerly windshift. I’m on starboard tack at the moment heading out to sea...I’m waiting for daybreak to do a keel-rudder check as there was a plastic bag on the rudder earlier.”

Alain Gautier ( Foncia): “It’s good to be in the lead but you can’t take too much notice of the rankings. I’m happy that I got off to a good start but the road is still long... I am pretty much alone at the moment. I’m trying to move Foncia on. I feel as if I still need to find my feet as I haven’t sailed this boat a lot. It was slamming a fair bit last night. It’s calm and not simple. Ahead of us there is between 0 and 5 knots for at least the next 30 hours. Yves Le Blevec (Rêve de Grand – Actual Interim) : « I’m happy but you mustn’t let yourself get carried away by the situation. I’ve done what I set out to do. It’s calm on the water. We haven’t got ourselves worked-up. I’m trying to move the boat forward as best I can. The competition is severe and we’ve still got a long way to go. »

Armel Le Cléac’h (Créaline) : « Remaining very concentrated… “We had a bit of wind yesterday when we left and the descent under spinnaker was very quick. The wind has dropped right out now and we’re going to have to be on the watch for the slightest breath of air. You really have to stay very concentrated with this shifty wind. I’m tacking along in a little group with 4/5 others. This afternoon I’m going to try and catch the local systems like the thermals towards Belle-Île.”

Kate Jennings

...Official site La Solitaire Du Figaro