Rookie win

Italian ex-America's Cup singlehander first into La Rochelle at conclusion of Solitaire du Figaro's second leg

Italy has long been recognised as a serious player in top level international competitive yachting. America’s Cup teams have challenged for years and figure among the strongest contenders in their discipline.

Pietro D’Ali, 42 years of age and father of two has all the talent and skill to race some of the most testing and tactically demanding boats, as is clearly demonstrated in his long and extensive sailing CV. Amazingly D'Ali sailing his first Solitaire du Figaro in the early hours of this morning won the second leg into La Rochelle, with Fréd Duthil just 50 seconds behind.

It is therefore not suprising then to find these two since the outset of the leg from Getxo-Bilbao, battling it out in the lead right down to the last 50 seconds that separated them on the finish line in La Rochelle in the early hours of Monday morning.

“It was a true pleasure to sail with Fred," said D'Ali on his arrival. "The race was really good…and difficult. The hardest thing of course is to keep in contact with the others and to push to the limit. I did not sleep at all…maybe 10 minutes just once…I do not know anymore. It has been a long time that I have wanted to do La Solitaire and it is an opportunity given to me by Nanni Diesel. It is true that this race brings some strong emotions, possibly more personal than those I have experienced up until now racing. I hope to finish the race and I really want to go and sleep!”



Duthil it turns out was pipped at the post. “I wanted to win this leg," he said. "It came down to nothing, but I messed up the buoy at the finish. This afternoon, Pietro and I did not stop chasing and passing each other, it was an incredibly strong wrestle. This leg was an incredible regatta where time flew by. I managed nearly an hour's sleep yesterday, but yes, I’m happy. I'm sticking to my objectives: finishing overall in the top 15 and in the top three on a leg. All that is done is done and there is still a long way to go to the finish of the fourth leg.”

Some of the most experienced Figaro sailors closed in on the leaders towards the end to keep the time deficit as narrow as possible (the Solitaire du Figaro is scored on cumulative elapsed time); Armel Le Cleac’h (2003 winner) taking third and last year's winner Charles Caudrelier on Bostik 4th while lead one winner Gildas Morvan on Cercle Vert came home 5th.

With tonight's result D'Ali has overall Gildas Morvan overall and for the first time in the history of La Solitaire, a non-French skipper is in the lead - and a rookie as well...Gildas Morvan trails in second place by 2 mintues and 36 seconds followed by Fred Duthil 13 minutes and 53 seconds behind in third.

Britain's Sam Davies is now in 23rd place overall 2 hours 3 minutes and 37 seconds astern of D'Ali.

Results - leg 2

Pos	Skipper	Boat	Time
1 *	D'ALI Pietro	Nanni Diesel	60h21'20''
2	DUTHIL Frédéric	Brossard	+0'50''
3	LE CLEAC'H Armel	Foncia-TBS	+11'16''
4	CAUDRELIER Charles	Bostik	+12'26''
5	MORVAN Gildas	Cercle Vert	+14'3''
6	TABARLY Erwan	Thales	+15'12''
7	CHABAGNY Thierry	Lèbre Bermudes	+23'19''
8	ROGNON Cyrille	ENO & Navi Line	+23'42''
9	ATTANASIO Romain	MrBookmaker.com	+25'39''
10	BEYOU Jérémie	Delta Dore	+27'5''
11	DESJOYEAUX Michel	Géant	+31'22''
12	BERENGER Nicolas	KONE Ascenseurs	+33'30''
13	VENIARD Gérald	Scutum	+35'2''
14	WARDLEY Liz	Sojasun	+36'46''
15	PELLECUER Laurent	Cliptol Sport	+37'36''
16	de PAVANT Kito	Groupe Bel	+38'24''
17	DROUGLAZET Eric	Crédit Maritime	+42'40''
18	PETIT Benoit	Défi Santé Voile	+42'56''
19	VITTET Dominic	ATAO Audio System	+52'28''
20	TROUSSEL Nicolas	All Mer	+55'23''
21	KRAUSS Oliver	Espoir Crédit Agricole	+1h13'33''
22	ELIES Yann	Groupe Generali Assurances	+1h17'21''
23	DAVIES Samantha	Skandia	+1h21'18''
24	GREGOIRE Jeanne	Banque Populaire	+1h25'46''
25 *	SVILARICH Etienne	Sogeti	+1h32'10''
26	TRIPON Armel	Gedimat	+1h35'44''
27	MOUREN Jean-Paul	M@rseillentreprises	+1h44'4''
28 *	DEFERT Eric	Amiral de Bretagne - Suzuki	+1h45'36''
29	PEAN Lionel	L'Esprit d'Equipe	+1h54'39''
30	EMIG Marc	Total	+2h0'20''
31	LEPESQUEUX Marc	Maisons Pierre	+2h1'6''
32 *	BESTAVEN Yannick	Aquarelle.com	+2h8'56''
33	LE GAL Franck	Lenze	+2h9'30''
34	SEVAUX Stéphane	Sarthe	+2h23'45''
35	BOUVET Christophe	Bo Travail !	+2h26'40''
36 *	FOURNIER FOCH Thierry	Cortal Consors	+2h39'45''
37	AUDIGANE Sébastien	D'Aucy Cultive la vie	+2h41'57''
38 *	CASO Jean Christophe	Groupe STEC / Charente Maritime	+2h43'25''
39 *	RIECHERS Jorg	Germanytoo	+2h49'42''
40	ALFARO Amaiur	www.pays-basque-entreprises.com	+3h6'51''
41	BOS Christian	Raynal et Roquelaure	+3h9'33''
42 *	THETIOT Sébastien	Déclic Morbihan	+3h30'52''
43	BOUGARD Patrice	Kogane	+3h34'5''
44	BIGOT Gaël	Team 117	+3h34'33''
45	NABART Laurent	Corsica	+3h35'48''