La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro 2004 -
Skandia Heading For Leg 2 Finish Tonight
Sam
Davies and Skandia are sailing with the front
pack of boats as the Solitaire fleet heads towards
the Vendée port of Saint Gilles. The current
fleet leader, Armel le Cleac'h, has the top half
of the fleet breathing down his neck, all eager
to win line honours on the second leg of this
1500 mile solo race.
For
most of the afternoon Sam has been sailing in
a close pack of boats including leading Figaro
sailors such as Tabarly, Morvan and Petit. She
is some 14.5 miles behind the lead boat so the
next few hours will be crucial to the overall
placings. Sailing in a 10-15 knot westerly breeze,
Skandia is covering the ground to St Gilles at
around 9 knots but Davies' chances of making any
significant gains on the front-runners diminish
as the miles to the finish pass. However, the
leaderboard for this leg is still wide open as
the wind conditions remain unstable, and any change
in strength or direction could turn the tables
for the leading pack, and the effects of extreme
tiredness that could force a 'game over' mistake
are extremely high.
The
fleet have already spent three nights at sea,
so most are hoping to finish the 463-mile leg
from Portsmouth late tonight. The boat-to-boat
combat that Sam and her fellow competitors find
themselves in will be crucial to her performance
in the last few miles of the leg. Davies relishes
being able to see, and in some cases hear, her
competitors and will be making the most of the
closing stages of the leg.
Sam's
training at the prestigious offshore sailing school
at Port la Foret will have taught her how to perform
in situations such as these when tiredness and
physical exhaustion can lead to small errors that
cost valuable places. However, Christian Le Pape,
the Port la Foret coach has no doubts on the abilities
of one of his star pupils:
"Sam
has the mental strength to keep going. She is
a very serene person who is good a seizing opportunities
as they present themselves. She always edges on
the side of caution, which is good for an event
like the Solitaire in particular. Mental performance
plays an important role as you must always think
that anything is possible. Sam sails well and
is fast. She is true professional, very thorough
in her approach as I don't think that we have
heard the last of her in this leg."
LEG
2 PORTSMOUTH-SAINT GILLES CROIX DE VIE
POSITIONS 1300 BST 2.8.04:
1.
Armel le Cléach, Foncia-TBS 54 miles to
the finish
2. Jérémie Beyou, Delta Dore 0.08
miles from the leader
3. Charles Coudrelier, Bostik Findley 0.10 miles
from the leader
4. Dominic Vittet, ATAO 1.63 miles from the leader
5. Olivier Krauss, Crédit Agricole 5.21
miles from the leader
6. Eric Drouglazet, Crédit Maritime 5.22
miles from the leader
7. Yann Eliès, Générali Assurances
5.52 miles from the leader
8. Jeanne Grégoire, Banque Populaire 11.56
miles from the leader
9. Kito de Pavant, Navy Lest 12.24 miles from
the leader
10. Erwann Tabarly, Thalès 13.5 miles from
the leader
----
15. Sam Davies, Skandia 14.52 miles from the leader
For
latest positions, go to http://lasolitaire.lefigaro.fr/main.cfm?class=classement/argos
La
Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro 2004
1st
Stage
Tuesday 27 July – Caen to Portsmouth (160
miles)
2nd
Stage
Wednesday 30 July – Portsmouth, UK to Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie
(463
miles)
3rd
Stage
Thursday 5th July - Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie
to Gijon, Spain (434
miles)
4th
Stage
Wednesday 11th August – Gijon to Quiberon
(316 miles)
For
latest information, please go to http://www.samdavies.com/skandia
Other
information sources online:
http://www.classefigaroBénéteau.com
http://www.lasolitaire.com
http://www.coursedesfalaises.com
http://www.matchracing.fr
http://www.generalisolo.com
