La Solitaire du Figaro - Final sprint… schuss !
August 14, 2003

Spinnakers hoisted, the leaders of La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro fleet are getting ready to make a landfall by night at around 0h30 (local time) in Dingle (Irl), after a tough third leg, which managed to keep the best in store for the end. Clocking up an average of more than 9 knots since this morning, the first single-handers are flying along. They have to keep pace and the tempo going until the very end of this final sprint spiced up with a smattering of tactics as they approach the Irish coast. For the time being, Pascal Bidégorry (Région Aquitaine) is not letting anything go ! Behind him, the chasing pack are hot on his heels…
At 11 o’clock, the Race Director announced the state of play for the last few miles on the horizon of the fleets leaders : « The wind has just veered 40° aft, giving an easterly blow, as forecast. Spinnakers were hoisted straight away and the boats are now making 8/9 knots towards their target. So as not to be left out, the sun has started to shine and the sea is a little less chaotic. In the lead, number 40 « Région Aquitaine » remains unmoved !

Look out ahead ! Full steam ahead for a speedy spinnaker sprint over the last 100 miles to be covered to the Great Skellig lighthouse, the final race mark of the big freestyle course on the menu of the third « ocean racing » leg. Long enough to give the soloists the time to get into the swing of things under Celtic latitudes. The leaders have been through it all before and are keeping their heads down, keeping their distance, holding onto the gaps established since leaving the Chaussée de Sein over the stern. All that will remain are the last 25 miles along the coast of Ireland in what are generally very fickle winds indeed over the last few lengths. . Currents and effects of the coast will come into play, and the leaders know only too well that they have to be vigilant, sailing on the tips of their toes in this final sprint… in short, they will have to rely upon their fine racing instinct. Be it Pascal Bidégorry, Jérémie Beyou (Delta Dore), solid second place, Armel Le Cléac’h (Créaline) or Alain Gautier (Foncia) who are neck and neck, or Michel Desjoyeaux (Géant) and Loïck Peyron (Fujifilm) still in the running in for the top ten 5-6 miles behind « Bidé »… they are all there !

We must not overlook the fine performance put in by the rookies : starting with Marc Emig (Espoir Total Course au Large) from Marseille, still hanging on ahead of Yann Eliès (Groupe Générali Assurances). Ditto for the English girl Samantha Davies (Skandia) who is still up there with the rest of the guys after her amazing start out of La Rochelle, when she rounded the offset mark in the lead after the course round the bay. 21st just 21 miles behind the leader, she is well placed to take second place on the first timers podium ahead of Yves Le Blévec (Rêve de Grand-Actual Interim), who has been shunted down a place.
At the start of the afternoon, things started to pick up speed. The speedo displays hit the two-figure numbers. The prize for the nest instant speed goes – surprise, surprise – to the first one you can imagine concentrating hard to get the best out of his one design machine … his eyes glued to his rear view mirror. 3.5 miles separate him from the hard-headed Jérémie Beyou. Close racing !

The latest ETA are reckoned on an average speed of 9.5 knots as far as Great Skillig, then 7.5 knots up to the finishing line at the mouth of Dingle Bay. Ding, ding, dong… the countdown has started for a night of finishes. But the first ones to make land will then have to wait for the rest of the fleet to arrive. At the end of the fleet, the gaps between the boats are increasing a little more with every mile. The Basque Unaï (Bizkaia) checks in 137 miles behind the leader … « Patience and length of time are better than force and rage ! »
Laure Faÿ

Echos from the ocean

Pascal Bidégorry (Région Aquitaine) : « At last we can put our foot to the floor ! »
Skipper of Région Aquitaine was contacted during today’s midday radio chat session : « I’m pleased to be where I am. What are the possible scenarios for the finish ? I don’t know yet… We’ll have to wait and see what the wind has in store for us towards the finish… two possible solutions : either the wind will pick up or it won’t. We’ll see. It’s not easy sailing on your own. You lack reference points. I try not to think about the ETA, which makes me think about the finish. Where I am, I try to avoid asking myself this sort of question. I try to keep my mind on keeping the boat going. »

Jérémie Béyou (Delta Dore) : « I want some steady wind ! » « I’m letting myself go a little now that the wind has picked up ! For the moment, as we’re not yet on the Irish coast, there’s not much you can do except keep your eye on the others. I’m a bit worried that I might go through the scenarios of the first two legs when the pack caught up with the leaders. But UI have to keep sombre thoughts like that from my mind. I can’t wait to get in and if we could do so in a steady blow, that’d be perfect. »

Eric Drouglazet (David Olivier): « I’m going to try to gain a few places in the overall rankings on this leg. I won’t give an inch until the very end. I hope to be able to pull something off before the end of the Figaro. There’s not much left to be done on this leg. It’s well and truly a light wind Figaro this time round.

...Official site La Solitaire Du Figaro