Double whammy

2003 Solitaire du Figaro winner adds the Transat AG2R to his trophy cabinet

At 20:49:03GMT this evening Armel le Cleac'h and Nicolas Troussel sailing Groupe SCE - Le Télégramme, arrived in Gustavia, St Barts, first in the seventh Transat AG2. Their victory came after three straight weeks at sea aboard their 32ft Beneteau Figaro one design on a 3,490 mile course that took them from Lorient around Madeira straight across the Atlantic to the French Caribbean paradise - due to a delayed depart the stopover in Madeira was cancelled.

For their last miles at sea when they had to sail around the north of St Barts to reach the capital, Gustavia, on the leeward side of the island, they were sailing under spinnaker in 18 knot northeasterly trade wind conditions, Le Cleac'h at the helm.

Aside from keeping the boat driving at maximum speed without breakage across the Atlantic they sailed a good race tactically and around 10 days out from the finish were lining up to take a more southerly approach to St Barts than the rest of the fleet. This proved fortunate as a week down the line as those on the great circle or the rhum feel into a hole Le Cleac'h and his co-skipper were able to stay in the pressure.

26 years old Armel Le Cleac'h is one of France's most talented young singlehanded sailors. This is only his fourth season in the Figaro class yet from the outset he has been one of the most competitive sailors in this class. His career culminated last year with his win in the Solitaire du Figaro. Now he has a win the Figaro class' other top event, to add to his CV and a bright future. Someone give this boy an Open 60...

At present we are waiting for news of the arrival of Pascal Bidegorry and Sidney Gavignet in Banque Populaire who seem certain to be second. At the 1500GMT position update they were just 17 miles astern while there was a bigger gap of 76 miles between the first and third placed boats.