Figaro Race - Cap Istanbul 2008 - 14.09.2008 www.capistanbul.com - Übersicht Tagesberichte siehe Menu unten 21.09.2008 Twenty-eight solo sailors on the start line There will be just 28 solo sailors on the start line, but Christophe Bouvet is in no way abandoning his friends. Indeed, he is embarking on one of the fleet’s support boats. Christophe will also sail single-handed alongside the others again for the last leg between Bozcaada and Istanbul. It reindexs that his misfortune has left its mark. Foto Jaques Vapillon The skipper of SIRMA was very much in demand yesterday as regards his fellow sailors as well as members of the organisation. Today though, after a night of much needed rest for everyone, the sailors set sail for Marzamemi on the south-east tip of Sicily today at 1600 hours. The weather forecast has greatly evolved over the past 48 hours and it’s in a rather light NE’ly wind that the fleet are likely to make the western tip of Sicily. At that point the sailors should be faced with some shifty E to SE’ly winds which may cause them to slow up along the south coast of the island. Given the delayed start the competitors aren’t expected to complete this second stage before Tuesday night. How will the competitors have recuperated from their emotional night? What influence will Christophe’s accident have on the morale of the fleet? These questions and more will have their answer over the coming hours. The first observation is that the sailors will be doubly prudent and several of them, including Nicolas Bérenger and Gildas Mahé have now chosen to wear their lifejackets. Safety compatible with performance It was a 10 to 12 knot SW’ly wind, kicked up by the thermal breeze, which welcomed the competitors to the start line marked out at the foot of the cliffs of Cagliari. After a delay due to the ill-timed passage of a cargo ship across the race zone, the race committee set the competitors going with a small fifteen minute delay. Laurent Pellecuer and Eric Péron were the first to head off towards the pin-end, while Gildas Mahé got the best start at the committee boat end. In the middle of the line, Nicolas Bérenger was ideally positioned. The windward mark was coloured by the familiar faces that have been driving the race since the start in Nice: Nicolas Bérenger was first to round, followed by Eric Drouglazet and then Marc Emig. The first three in the general ranking were on the attack from the start of the course so their position at the front of the fleet was perhaps not down to chance. The mental factor is decisive in top level sports and this trio are visibly hungry. Eric Drouglazet’s hunger is derived from his victory in the first leg and his desire to make this leg a gift to his great pal Christophe Bouvet, Marc Emig’s comes from having to sit out of the competition for the past year after being dropped, ‘mid-flight’, by his former sponsor, and Nicolas Bérenger’s comes from getting a taste of victory sailing double-handed and hence a desire to add a big solo event to his list of wins. “I feel more ready than ever before”, admitted the skipper of Kone Elevators yesterday. By taking the lead of the fleet, he also demonstrated that you can be perfectly mindful of individual safety and not lose any of your aggression on the water. At the rear of the fleet Jean-Charles Monnet was thrashing it out with a indexsail batten problem. After the offending item escaped out of the front of its cover, it then blocked his indexsail. After several attempts at repairing it, the skipper of Suez Dégremont Environnement Source de Talents was finally able to take the start around twenty minutes after the others, hoping for better times. Meantime in Marzamemi, the little port is a hive of activity preparing to provide a warm welcome to the fleet of solo sailors in the “European Capital of Culture – Cap Istanbul”. Bicycles will be available for the racers and receptions of all kinds are just some of the festivities on the menu. One sailmaker has even set up a sewing machine in a marquee in the immediate proximity of the pontoons to be as close as possible to the sailors in order to respond to their needs. The inhabitants of Marzamemi are keen to demonstrate that hospitality is not an empty word in Sicily. Order of passage of the first ten boats at the windward mark: 1 – Kone Elevators, Nicolas Bérenger 2 – Luisina, Eric Drouglazet 3 – Docteur Valnet Aromathérapie, Laurent Pellecuer 4 - Capitol, Marc Emig 5 – Marseille Entreprises, Jean-Paul Mouren 6 – DCNS 97, Christopher Pratt 7 – Défi Mousquetaires, Thomas Rouxel 8 – Agir Recouvrement, Adrien Hardy 9 – Cercle Vert, Gildas Morvan 10 – Le Comptoir Immobilier, Gildas Mahé Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression Copyright © 1996-2016 - SEGEL.DE