Can Morvan do it?

Figaro veteran Gildas Morvan in line for welcome Solitaire du Figaro leg win

With less than 20 miles to go the finish line off Getxo-Bilbao for the front runner in the Solitaire du Figaro this morning, so the 45 strong fleet have made record time to north Spain on this first leg. A relatively small distance to the south of where the Rolex Fastnet Race fleet is wallowing, the Figaros have been basking in 25-30 knot reaching conditions.

At present the 'green giant' Gildas Morvan on Cercle Verte is leading ahead of Figaro veterans Jeremie Beyou and race favourite Yann Elies. Morvan is one of the oldest Figaro veterans in the race and is a regular podium placer and leader on the race course, but with equal regularity race wins have eluded him. If he is first into Gexto-Bilbao, it is believed that this will be his first Solitaire du Figaro leg win since 1989.

Sam Davies will be disappointed by her 27th place, but may benefit from protesting the unnamed sailor who ran her on to the rocks at the start.

Another performance of note is that the top Figaro first timer, Italy Pietro d'Ali on Nanni Diesel. The boats are due to finish any minute now.

Positions at 0700GMT

Pos	Skipper	Boat	Lat	Long	Crs	Spd	DTF
1	MORVAN Gildas	Cercle Vert	43 40' 86' N	3 13' 86' W	159°	8.3	19.3 nm
2	BEYOU Jérémie	Delta Dore	43 42' 00' N	3 12' 36' W	162°	8.6	20 nm
3	ELIES Yann	Groupe Generali Assurances	43 42' 42' N	3 13' 50' W	163°	8.4	20.7 nm
4	de PAVANT Kito	Groupe Bel	43 42' 36' N	3 14' 70' W	159°	8.5	20.9 nm
5	PELLECUER Laurent	Cliptol Sport	43 42' 42' N	3 14' 22' W	160°	8.5	20.9 nm
6	CHABAGNY Thierry	Lèbre Bermudes	43 43' 56' N	3 14' 64' W	160°	8.4	22 nm
7	EMIG Marc	Total	43 43' 14' N	3 16' 62' W	155°	8.4	22.2 nm
8	VITTET Dominic	ATAO Audio System	43 53' 22' N	3 16' 98' W	162°	9.2	22.6 nm
9	GREGOIRE Jeanne	Banque Populaire	43 45' 24' N	3 13' 02' W	162°	8.6	23.3 nm
10 *	D'ALI Pietro	Nanni Diesel	43 45' 00' N	3 14' 04' W	164°	8.6	23.3 nm
11	DUTHIL Frédéric	Brossard	43 42' 72' N	3 22' 26' W	158°	8.6	23.7 nm
12	LE CLEAC'H Armel	Foncia-TBS	43 45' 06' N	3 15' 66' W	160°	8.2	23.7 nm
13	TABARLY Erwan	Thales	43 45' 30' N	3 16' 44' W	159°	8.3	24.1 nm
14	CAUDRELIER Charles	Bostik	43 45' 54' N	3 16' 62' W	163°	8.5	24.4 nm
15	VENIARD Gérald	Scutum	43 46' 32' N	3 13' 50' W	165°	8.7	24.4 nm
16	BERENGER Nicolas	KONE Ascenseurs	43 43' 86' N	3 22' 44' W	151°	8.1	24.7 nm
17	DROUGLAZET Eric	Crédit Maritime	43 46' 32' N	3 16' 20' W	158°	8.1	25 nm
18	DESJOYEAUX Michel	Géant	43 48' 66' N	3 09' 42' W	169°	8.7	26.1 nm
19	ATTANASIO Romain	MrBookmaker.com	43 48' 24' N	3 14' 22' W	160°	8.3	26.4 nm
20	KRAUSS Oliver	Espoir Crédit Agricole	43 47' 94' N	3 16' 68' W	165°	8.7	26.7 nm
21	PETIT Benoit	Défi Santé Voile	43 49' 32' N	3 14' 94' W	164°	8.6	27.6 nm
22	AUDIGANE Sébastien	D'Aucy Cultive la vie	43 48' 18' N	3 19' 68' W	154°	8.1	27.7 nm
23	BIGOT Gaël	Team 117	43 52' 80' N	3 18' 12' W	157°	8.2	31.6 nm
24	LEPESQUEUX Marc	Maisons Pierre	43 52' 86' N	3 18' 72' W	159°	8.1	31.8 nm
25	BOUVET Christophe	Bo Travail !	43 53' 64' N	3 18' 54' W	161°	8.3	32.5 nm
26 *	BESTAVEN Yannick	Aquarelle.com	43 54' 06' N	3 20' 94' W	162°	8.7	33.5 nm
27	DAVIES Samantha	Skandia	43 55' 38' N	3 17' 82' W	163°	8.8	34 nm
28	TRIPON Armel	Gedimat	43 54' 30' N	3 29' 16' W	158°	7.2	36.2 nm
29	BOUGARD Patrice	Kogane	44 07' 62' N	3 26' 70' W	156°	9.1	38.6 nm
30 *	SVILARICH Etienne	Sogeti	44 00' 36' N	3 18' 18' W	163°	9	38.9 nm
31	LE GAL Franck	Lenze	43 59' 58' N	3 25' 20' W	159°	8.7	39.7 nm
32	WARDLEY Liz	Sojasun	44 01' 62' N	3 18' 12' W	166°	9.5	40.1 nm
33	MOUREN Jean-Paul	M@rseillentreprises	44 01' 50' N	3 22' 68' W	157°	8.6	40.9 nm
34	NABART Laurent	Corsica	44 01' 80' N	3 23' 40' W	162°	8.6	41.3 nm
35	TROUSSEL Nicolas	All Mer	44 03' 48' N	3 16' 44' W	162°	9.2	41.6 nm
36	ROGNON Cyrille	ENO & Navi Line	44 03' 60' N	3 16' 50' W	165°	9.4	41.7 nm
37	SEVAUX Stéphane	Sarthe	44 02' 34' N	3 23' 46' W	161°	9	41.9 nm
38	ALFARO Amaiur	www.pays-basque-entreprises.com	44 03' 48' N	3 29' 22' W	151°	8.6	44.4 nm
39	PEAN Lionel	L'Esprit d'Equipe	44 08' 10' N	3 18' 42' W	166°	8.8	46.4 nm
40 *	THETIOT Sébastien	Déclic Morbihan	44 06' 60' N	3 27' 12' W	163°	9.4	46.8 nm
41 *	DEFERT Eric	Amiral de Bretagne - Suzuki	44 12' 24' N	3 16' 74' W	156°	9.1	50.3 nm
42	BOS Christian	Raynal et Roquelaure	44 13' 02' N	3 13' 80' W	166°	8.2	50.7 nm
43 *	FOURNIER FOCH Thierry	Cortal Consors	44 13' 02' N	3 20' 28' W	164°	8.9	51.5 nm
44 *	CASO Jean Christophe	Groupe STEC / Charente Maritime	44 11' 76' N	3 27' 96' W	161°	9.8	51.8 nm
NL *	RIECHERS Jorg	Germanytoo	-		°		nm
ABD	EINHORN Jacques	Connivence	-		°		nm