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La Solitaire du Figaro 2010
27.Juli-19.August 2010
www.lasolitaire.com - Übersicht
Tuesday, 17th August 2010
Solitaire du Figaro: nail biting suspense and fast downwind sailing
overnight
It was a fast and demanding night for the 44 skippers racing in the
fourth and decisive leg of Solitaire du Figaro 2010 who averaged
speeds of more than 11 knots in high winds of 20/25 knots, gusting at
more than 30.
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Gildas Morvan first at the Fastnet but the overall
leader Armel “the Jackal” Le Cleac’s is back in control. Fatigue has
set in yet nobody can let their guard down for the final miles on the
approach to Cherbourg. Excellent performance form Portuguese skipper
Francisco Lobato and Italian Pietro D’Alì still in the leading group.
The game reindexs wide open for the top ten spots.
It was 01h01’33’’ exactly when Gildas Morvan (Cercle Vert) rounded the
Fastnet lighthouse in the lead to hoist the spinnaker and start the
route down to Lizen Ven and Cherbourg, followed by Corentin Douguet
(E.Leclerc Mobile) and Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel).
All the skippers told, in the traditional midday radio chats, of the
fun and excitement of sailing downwind full power, spinnaker up, at 15
plus knots in identical boats, watching your competitors just metres
away.
Despite not being localised in the latest position report at 16:00,
Armel Le Cleac’h is assumed to still in the leading four, showing an
exceptional control of the race. According to the latest position
report the fleet is led by Corentin Douguet (E.Leclerc Mobile) at 231
miles from the finish while Eric Péron (Skipper Macif 2009) and
François Gabart (Skipper Macif 2010), 2nd in the overall ranking and
2nd at 16 hours respectively) are hot on his heels: just 0.2 miles,
that is to say… 370 metres! And where is the provisional bronze medal
Thomas Rouxel (Crédit Mutuel de Bretagne)? Only 2.5 miles behind…
As forecast, the wind eased to a more manageable 15 knots over the
course of the afternoon. The fleet is now looking for the right place
to gibe, that will probably be between 8 p.m. and midnight, to set the
course to Lizen Ven mark, just off the île Vierge, in order to reach
the next mark where they are expected between midnight and 08:00.
From this point it twill be clearer who made the best option for the
final 140 miles to Cherbourg -Octeville, where the Race Management
staff arrived today and promptly had to get their umbrellas out,
preparing to welcome the leaders, expected to finish Wednesday late
afternoon.
Both the young Portuguese skipper, Francisco Lobato (ROFF/TEMPO-TEAM)
and the Italian, Pietro D’Alì (I.NOVA.3) showed excellent speed and
strategy and were reported to be 5th and 7th respectively, whilst
Jonny Malbon (Artemis) was 33rd and Isabelle Joschke (Synergie) in 37th.
Meanwhile, unfortunate Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat) informed
Race Management that, after having made the necessary repairs to sail
safely, he left Kinsale shortly after midnight accompanied by his
shore team to deliver the boat to Cherbourg. Matthieu Girolet
(Entreprendre), on the contrary, opted to have his boat repaired in
Ireland.
Quotes form the skippers:
Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air)
“The first part of the race was all right. As for now we’re heading
right for Brittany on port, still a good breeze. It’s fast, I don’t
know if the others have gibed yet and are further East… We had some
nice wave surfing, at 18 knots and the wind shifted a bit and we’ve a
terrific angle to go full speed: we’re always above 11 knots, right
now 14/15. For the Channel crossing I guess the wind is going to
decrease a little and veer to the West, it’s going to be full downwind
with some gibing. I’m in a pack of four or five boats, we’re close and
I need to focus on boat’s speed, keeping the pace.
I think I dozed off earlier this morning but sailing fast keeps you
focussed at the helm. I keep vigilant not to break the spinnaker or
anything on board.”
Sébastien Josse (Vendée)
“We’re surfing at 10 to 16 knots, it’s nice, the front is gone there’s
quite a big swell but it’s a bit less confused now on port. Life is
beautiful but it’s not easy to get some rest. You don’t have to look
at your speedometer because you feel like you’re flying and then you
realise the top speed is only 15 knots… It’s good though, fun. I gibed
well and I’m in control, I reckon I even went up two or three places.
I have no idea where I am in the fleet, I know there is Erwan Tabarly
in front and Nicolas Lunven is half a mile away, Yann Eliès is
leeward, but the group is spread out. It’s a tough last leg, I fight.
I’ve been having some technical issues, I’ve broken a halyard just
minutes ago. It’s like on the second leg when I blew my spinnaker.
We’ll see with the new positions but if the wind will keep at around
15 knots I don’t think there will be any huge changes.”
François Gabart (Skipper Macif 2010)
“I must confess it’s been fun, up to now. I don’t know how the fleet
is positioned but I’m sailing in a small group of four boats with Eric
Drouglazet, Armel Le Cleac’h Corentin Douguet, we’re fighting against
each other. I’m pretty confident and the boat is fast. I was really
quick earlier this morning, since then I lost some ground on Armel and
Eric.”
Jérémie Beyou (BPI)
“Not bad, I’m ok. I was sailing fast under spinnaker, behind Armel (Le
Cleac’h) and in front of Gabart, I decided to gibe I was at the bow
when the autopilot went its own way… result: spinnaker pole into the
water, the sail slashed so… If you attack you may break something,
that’s it. I managed to repair the big kite, I dried it near the
engine, cleaned it with acetone, put some adhesive cloth and hoisted
it again. Il look like it’s going to last but it was a bad blow. The
game is not over but I’ve been so busy I couldn’t sit down at the nav
station for a long time. The current is going to be crucial. The
leaders may fall into a lower wind area, up there in front. I can
still see them so I have to be hopeful. I haven’t slept much since the
start and, maybe, if the weather is a bit better I can have a short
nap. That would be good, if I don’t rest next night could be tough!
Thomas Rouxel (Credit Mutuel de Bretagne) fast downwind under spinnaker
Photo Credit: Courcoux-Marmara/Le Figaro
High resolution photographs for editorial use available upon request
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