La Solitaire du Figaro - Entire Fleet in Safe Haven
August 09, 2003

The Basque, Unai Basurko (Bizkaia) completed the long list of 42 arrivals in La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro at 00h58m56s this morning after 81h 45 m 56s of racing and 13h 47m 57s after the first rookie, Marc Emig (Espoir Total Course au Large). The best progress made during this leg was given to Christophe (Kito) de Pavant (Crash Bandicoot) who gained 22 places from the Radio France buoy going from 34th position to 12th on his arrival in La Rochelle and winning 800 Euros. This lunch time saw the prize giving for this second leg with third placed Erwan Tabarly (Thalès) taking 750 Euros, second placed Michel Desjoyeaux (Géant) taking 1000 Euros and winner Armel Le Cléac’h (Créaline) taking 2000 Euros. First rookie, Marc Emig (Espoir Total Course au Large) won 800 Euros.

“It was a very testing leg, said Tabarly. We left Bilbao in light winds and were followed up the coast by little pockets of air. I’d like to thank Pascal (Bidegorry) for his fine dive (to clear a fishing pot from under his boat when he was in first place) which enabled me to get past. Everything was really all played out on the last day. Bravo Armel!”

Next up on stage in front of an appreciative crowd and a baking sun was Desjoyeaux and the vice-president of Poitou Charentes thanked him for his “honesty and tenacity” which she said was “an example to all young people.” Last up was the popular winner Le Cléac’h. “I am very happy to be in this position. I’ve worked hard on getting here all year and I’ve sailed a lot in La Rochelle. Thank you very much to my sponsor Créaline with whom things are working very well to date. Thanks too to the fishermen who left the fishing gear out to ensnare Pascal (Bidegorry)! Good luck to everyone for the next leg which will doubtless end in suspense in Dingle.”

The claims made to the race committee after two legs are as follows: After a collision at the start of the second leg in Bilbao between Eric Lebreton (CYP) and Gwenaël Riou (Espoir Crédit Agricole) the former has received a penalty of 10 minutes and the latter one of 30 minutes. Jean-Paul Mouren (M@rseille Entreprise), Daniel Dupont (Art Immobilier Construction) and Italian, Corrado Agusta (Sector Sport Watches) have each received a time penalty of 10 minutes for arriving in La Rochelle with a de-sealed propeller shaft. A claim against the latter skipper for having rounded a mark in the wrong direction has been rejected.

On Monday 11 August, the Figaro Bénéteau 2 fleet will head out from La Rochelle at 1600 BST to Dingle, the beautiful emerald isle of Ireland, 536 miles away.Strategy will be the essence of this marker free leg with the boats taking on the weather systems served up on the open waters of the Atlantic followed by the Irish Sea.

As the fleet head out from the start zone the windward mark must be rounded and left to port. After that a conical yellow « dog leg » mark, situated at around 0.3 NM from the windward mark must be rounded and left to port completed by the rounding of the Radio France mark, « Nord Ouest Aix » (46° 02.4 N and 01° 12.4 W) that must be left to starboard.

The competitors will then have to choose their camp. They will either sail off to the west of the direct course out to sea, follow the coast in an attempt to catch the thermal breezes or save on the miles and take a course between both these options. The chances are that the leaders in the general rankings will concentrate on their pure speed and likely mark each other sheep-like rather than trying a potentially “suicidal” coup on their own. This option is more likely to be taken by the back-runners who have less to lose and everything to gain.

In the days preceding the start the boats lay in the safe hands of the various shore crews while their skippers take a hard earned rest. Cyril Ducrot, shore crew to 14th placed Gilles Chiorri (3201 Météo Consult Groupe Prosodie) is one of a number of teams getting a particular boat back in racing configuration. “I’m simply getting the boat in tune to race, washing everything down and working on any repairs that need to made, as well as re-supplying the boat with the necessary food and water. This time there is not an awful lot to do. I’ve just got to sort out one of the pullies. Some of the other boats have got big electronics problems to sort out which takes a lot more time and Jean-Paul Mouren has to sort out his keel along with Jeanne Gregoire and Sander Bakker. Probably the most important job goes on under the boat. We have to dive for half and hour to three quarters of an hour to sand the bottom of it. While the boats are racing we rally all the necessary material to the next port and listen out at the radio sessions to hear if they have broken something so we have the necessary pieces when they arrive in port. Some of us are employed by our skippers and others by their sponsors. I’m lucky to be working for Gilles as he is always very relaxed.”

On pre-race day tomorrow is a splendid “beef extravaganza” on the Poitou-Charentes stand followed later by a skippers briefing at 1800 hours, less than 24 hours before the start of what promises to be a spectacular Leg 3 to the rugged coast of Dingle, Ireland.

Kate Jennings

...Official site La Solitaire Du Figaro