La Solitaire du Figaro
THE LEG FOR ELIÉS, THE RACE FOR DE PAVANT
Thursday, 29 August 2002
The last leg of the Single-handed Figaro has reindexed faithful to the image it has held throughout this edition. As proof : the finishes under high tension due to the light winds and the tides had more than their fair share of surprises and new developments. The result of the Gijon part of the race : the fine Yann Eliès (Groupe Générali Assurances) clearly stood out and above all the robustness of Kito de Pavant (Malice) was more than enough to take all the laurels at Cherbourg-Octeville. With the Raz Blanchard as the final judge : it was a truly astounding finish, inevitably !
And so to recap, the night following the currents and the Anglo-Normandy islands, was one of the hottest. It was a night comprising all the possible dangers with an irreversible tightening together of the fleet. An enormous suspense in light of the very real impossibility of being able to predict or even imagine the likely winners. And all that in the last few miles of the 1691 mile course, which began nearly a month ago from Boulogne-sur-Mer. So there we have it, the games have been played. The winner is Yann Eliès (Groupe Générali Assurances), the first to position his bow on the line of deliverance in the sea off Cherbourg-Octeville. He is the fourth round winner at the end of four laps which have peppered this indecisive 33rd edition right up to the end. At 10hrs 43mn and 28 sec, the young skipper, always where the action was since Gijon, raised his arms to the sky in triumph. « I?m happy with myself. I set out to look for this victory. I have succeeded in winning a leg, anything is possible now. It was very important to succeed in the last few miles. Of course this victory is a present for Titouan, my little boy born a week ago when I wasn't there. »
In his wake followed, at 10 hrs 50mn and 15 sec , Ronan Guérin (Saint-Nazaire-Escal Atlantic), audacious in his tactical choices throughout the leg and who inevitably made his boat fly a little. High on the escape road for a good 24 hours, he was still in the lead at 7 o'clock this morning. Looking drawn at the end of the ultimate knife-edge regatta, he still managed to get in ahead of the tough Eric Drouglazet (David Olivier). In fact, just one second ahead on the line! Then came the turn of Roindex Attanasio (Port Trébeurden) to make his entrance into Cherbourg-Octeville, after giving a fine demonstration at the helm of his monotype throughout the 465 mile leg.
And then came the moment to welcome the overall winner of the 33rd Single-handed Figaro. In fifth position, at 10hrs 55 min 12 sec, Kito de Pavant (Malice), once again left his closest rivals in the general rankings to his stern. With his regular appearance in the best placed rankings, he made a name for himself without having won a single one of the four legs. Emotional, at the point of exhaustion after having given his all not to see his rightful victory slip beneath his bow, he let the tears of joy and relief flow freely. « It was hard, very hard. There?s a lot of emotion, revealed Kito, the hero of this Solo race. We?re tired so the nerves are pretty worn, it feels so good when it all stops. We've contended four very difficult legs with a lot of nervous tension. It was very close the whole time. In the Raz Blanchard, everyone came back into it, it was impossible to know who was going to win the Figaro. And then it fell to me, I can't believe it yet! I haven't won a lap but I win the Figaro and that?s even more fabulous ! »
Laure Faÿ
http://www.lasolitairedufigaro.com
Avec le soutien de : La Marine Nationale, La Fédération Française de Voile, Bénéteau, Bayer, Sixt, TF1, Radio France, Aigle, Argos, ICOM, DataSPort, Geolink, Mumm, La Baule Nautic, Informatique et Mer, Météo Consult, La Ville de Boulogne sur Mer, La Ville des Sables d'Olonne, La Région des Pays de la Loire, Le Département de la Vendée, La Ville de Gijon, Le Port de Gijon - Principado de Asturias, La Ville de Cherbourg - Octeville.
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