Elies outright winner

As Figaro class' Course de Falaises finishes in Le Havre

From left to right: Le Havre's Anne Bagneaux-Savatier with Charles Caudrier, winner Yann Elies and second placed Jeremie Beyou

The tension could be felt as dawn rose this Sunday morning out on the pontoons, as the 24 competitors prepared to leave the lock basin for the final race of this year’s Course des Falaises. With over 20 knots of wind out on the water and knowing that they were now playing for their final ranking in the FFV Offshore Single-handed Championship, competitors’ minds were very focussed.

Conditions were ‘interesting’ with a 2m swell and strong tidal streams. Problems hit the fleet well before the start as Yann Eliès on Groupe Generali Assurance hit a lobster pot and wrapped its anchor line around his propeller. The rapid intervention of his shore crew helped him clear it allowed him to continue towards the start line.

The race committee set a 1.7nm course and after two general recalls, a start under a black flag saw Fréderic Duthil on All Mer first away, heading off to the left of the race area. As in yesterday’s race, the competitors marked each other tack for tack throughout the race, particularly Jérémie Beyou on Delta Dore and Solitaire du Figaro winner Charles Caudrelier on Bostik Findley, respectively second and third in the overall results.

The battle was relentless, with the wind and strong tidal streams complicating the Figaro sailors' manoeuvres. The downhill run under spinnaker was a delicate affair with some, including Sam Davies on Skandia broaching. Others found the gybe round the buoy hazardous and Rodolf Jacq on Skipper A2GR and Armel Tripon on Gedimat left the mark with their genoas twisted.

In the end Yann Eliés, finishing in 9th place and with 26 points overall, has won this year’s edition of the Course des Falaises and will be named 2004 Single-handed Champion at the Figaro Bénéteau official closing ceremony, at the end of the season. Sam Davies on Skandia finished 15th and 13th overall, and maintains her 10th position in the Single-handed Championship.

After the race, Davies said: "It had been a good season: 100% better than last year’s, when I finished 20th. I am now 10th and that’s good. I'm really pleased with my 10th place, but not with my performance in this race. But I can explain that...the problems with my knee and I’ve had the flu all week, so I’m not worried about it."

Yann Eliés (Groupe Generali Assurances) was "really satisfied" with his performance. "I've had a good Season", he said. "After this title I am going to sail until the end of the year on the multihull Gitana and then join the crew of Orange for the Jules Verne Trophy."

Final results:

Pos	Boat	Skipper	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Tot
1	GROUPE GENERALI ASSURANCES	Yann ELIES	2	1	2	1	2	9	9	26
2	DELTA DORE	Jérémie BEYOU	4	8	6	5	1	4	4	32
3	BOSTIK FINDLEY	Charles CAUDRELIER-BENAC	6	3	10	6	8	3	3	39
4	CERCLE VERT	Gildas MORVAN	10	2	22	3	5	1	2	45
5	THALES	Erwan TABARLY	12	6	4	4	4	5	16	51
6	ALL MER	Frédéric DUTHIL	30	4	20	2	6	10	1	73
7	BOOZY AND THE KIKOUYOUS	Kito DE PAVANT	20	4	8	7	14	14	8	75
8	PORT TREBEURDEN	Romain ATTANASIO	16	10	14	12	16	2	5	75
9	BRETAGNE SAILING	Eric DROUGLAZET	14	5	18	10	11	12	10	80
10	ESPOIR CREDIT AGRICOLE	Oliver KRAUSS	8	7	28	17	9	6	6	81
11	DEFI SANTE VOILE	Benoit PETIT	24	11	16	8	3	8	12	82
12	CHAUSS EUROP	Jean-Luc NELIAS	18	9	24	11	13	18	7	100
13	SKANDIA	Samantha DAVIES	22	12	12	13	15	11	15	100
14	REGION AQUITAINE	Arnaud BOISSIERES	28	13	34	14	7	13	13	127
15	MAISONS PIERRE	Marc LEPESQUEUX	32	18	40	22	10	7	11	140
16	SKIPPER AG2R PREVOYANCE	Rodolphe JACQ	26	25	30	16	12	15	17	141
17	GEDIMAT	Armel TRIPON	36	14	26	9	20	17	24	146
18	PAYS GRANVILLAIS	Brieuc MAISONNEUVE	40	25	36	21	17	21	14	174
19	TAT AVIATION SERVICES	Alain DELORD	34	20	38	18	22	23	21	176
20	CREDIT MUTUEL	Alexandre TOULORGE	50	25	32	19	18	16	18	178
21	RAYNAL & ROQUELAURE	Christian BOS	46	19	42	15	21	19	19	181
22	DUC & PRENEUF	Vincent VACHETTE	38	16	46	20	24	20	23	187
23	ENTREPRISES LILLEBONNAISES	Grégoire LE MIERE	42	15	44	23	19	24	22	191
24	GENERALE D EMBALLAGE	Francois BALOGH	44	17	48	24	23	22	20	198