Trousselled

Flier pays off for Figaro veteran as boats pick up speed and head for Belle Ile

Positions at 1400GMT

Pos	Skipper	Boat	Lat	Long	Crs	Spd	DTF/L
1	TROUSSEL Nicolas	Financo	46 59' 82' N	3 34' 68' W	25 °	6	105.1
2	CHABAGNY Thierry	Littoral	46 45' 18' N	3 25' 68' W	20 °	5.6	12.8 nm
3	DROUGLAZET Eric	PIXmania.com	46 27' 42' N	2 51' 30' W	349 °	6.1	32.7 nm
4	LE CLEAC'H Armel	Brit Air	46 26' 22' N	2 56' 40' W	355 °	5.7	33 nm
5	MOUREN Jean-Paul	M@rseillEntreprises	46 23' 16' N	2 48' 54' W	346 °	5.8	37.3 nm
6	VENIARD Gérald	Scutum	46 21' 54' N	2 55' 20' W	347 °	6.2	37.7 nm
7	PELLECUER Laurent	Cliptol Sport	46 21' 54' N	2 50' 22' W	353 °	6	38.5 nm
8	ELIES Yann	Groupe Generali assurances	46 20' 40' N	2 54' 54' W	349 °	5.7	38.9 nm
9	TABARLY Erwan	Iceberg Finance	46 17' 70' N	3 07' 74' W	5 °	5.8	40.2 nm
10	de PAVANT Kito	Groupe Bel	46 18' 78' N	2 52' 44' W	342 °	6.2	40.8 nm
11	DUTHIL Frédéric	Brossard	46 15' 66' N	2 51' 96' W	338 °	6.9	43.9 nm
12	PRATT Christopher	Espoir Crédit Agricole	46 12' 24' N	2 50' 22' W	335 °	6.7	44.5 nm
13	CAUDRELIER CHARLES	Bostik	46 14' 94' N	2 52' 08' W	333 °	7.4	44.6 nm
14	LEBAS Christophe	Armor Lux	46 10' 92' N	3 13' 68' W	20 °	6.5	46.7 nm
15	NAGY Robert	Theolia	46 08' 22' N	3 01' 20' W	331 °	6.3	47.2 nm
16	MORVAN Gildas	Cercle Vert	46 10' 38' N	3 02' 64' W	7 °	3.1	47.9 nm
17	KRAUSS Oliver	AXA Plaisance	46 10' 02' N	3 02' 52' W	350 °	4.5	48.2 nm
18	ISRAEL Erwan	Delta Dore	46 10' 56' N	2 52' 98' W	334 °	6.8	48.8 nm
19	GREGOIRE Jeanne	Banque Populaire	46 08' 52' N	3 02' 04' W	341 °	5.4	49.8 nm
20	DICK Jean-Pierre	Virbac-Paprec	46 06' 00' N	3 10' 98' W	10 °	3.5	51.8 nm
21	MAHE Gildas	Le Comptoir Immobilier	46 04' 80' N	3 03' 48' W	354 °	5.1	53.3 nm
22	TOULORGE Alexandre	Starkey	46 04' 62' N	3 03' 48' W	353 °	4.8	53.5 nm
23	PERON Eric	Cigo	46 04' 62' N	3 01' 56' W	342 °	4.2	53.7 nm
24	SEGUIN Damien	AltéAd Region Pays de la Loire	46 03' 72' N	3 30' 78' W	23 °	5.3	54.5 nm
25	d'ALI Pietro	Nanni Diesel	46 03' 06' N	3 03' 36' W	352 °	4.7	55.1 nm
26	WARDLEY Liz	Sojasun	46 02' 94' N	3 04' 56' W	348 °	5	55.1 nm
27	EMIG Marc	A.ST Groupe	46 02' 94' N	3 02' 70' W	353 °	4.6	55.3 nm
28	TRIPON Armel	Gedimat	46 03' 06' N	2 59' 58' W	335 °	4.8	55.4 nm
29	LE GAL Franck	Lenze	46 02' 10' N	2 57' 18' W	339 °	4.5	56.6 nm
30	BERENGER Nicolas	KONE Ascenseurs	46 00' 66' N	3 03' 66' W	353 °	3.7	57.5 nm
31	VACHETTE Vincent	SCO Saveur et Vie	45 58' 50' N	3 02' 52' W	347 °	3.2	59.7 nm
32	GOUEZIGOUX Laurent	Côtes d'Armor	45 58' 08' N	3 06' 36' W	13 °	2.5	59.9 nm
33	DA CRUZ Antonio Pedro	Baïko	45 56' 82' N	3 26' 82' W	331 °	4.3	61 nm
34	DAVIES Samantha	Roxy	46 01' 08' N	2 32' 58' W	349 °	4.4	61.8 nm
35	LOISON Alexis	Région Basse-Normandie	46 00' 24' N	2 32' 46' W	8 °	3.9	62.6 nm
36	TREUSSART Ronan	Groupe Céléos	45 55' 20' N	2 39' 54' W	344 °	4.2	65.9 nm
37	LE MIERE Grégoire	Man Of All Seasons	45 54' 18' N	2 38' 76' W	351 °	4.1	67.1 nm
38	DOUGUET Corentin	E.Leclerc - Bouygues Télécom	45 50' 46' N	2 52' 80' W	339 °	2.1	68.6 nm
39	LE BAUT Jimmy	Port-Olona	45 49' 02' N	3 16' 74' W	343 °	1.8	68.6 nm
40	SVILARICH Etienne	Sogeti	45 48' 78' N	2 52' 62' W	328 °	1.7	70.3 nm
41	ROUXEL Thomas	Défi Santé Nutrition	45 48' 36' N	2 56' 94' W	327 °	1.1	70.3 nm
42	PELLET Jean-François	Lubexcel	45 52' 38' N	2 30' 48' W	303 °	1.5	70.5 nm
43	AUBERT Jérome	La Normandise	45 50' 70' N	2 24' 78' W	34 °	0.2	73.4 nm
44	DEFERT Eric	Suzuki Autombiles	45 45' 90' N	2 31' 32' W	298 °	0.5	76.5 nm

Variable conditions in the Bay of Biscay have shaken up the positions for the 44 competitors on leg two of La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro as they prepare for their third night at sea.

From the outset, while a majority of the fleet headed to the east of the rhumb line between Santander and Belle Ile, two of the Figaros broke away to the west - Nicolas Troussel on Financo and Thierry Chabagny on Littoral and over the early hours this morning were first to feel the effects of a shift to the northwest allowing them to stride into the lead. Furthest out to the northwest, Troussel is now 13 miles ahead of Chabagny (who led at 0230 GMT, but was rapidly overtaken by Troussel at the next sched at 06:30).

“I happy to see where I am as I had not had news of what is going on in the fleet since the start," said Chabagny: "I adapted to the weather, but did not know what it could give, so was a bit stressed to start with as you do not follow the fleet and it’s hard to know what you are doing. You just have to trust yourself and I just wanted to do something slightly different. After 24 hours with no news and sailing alone it was quite a surprise to find myself in the lead. I was alone on the first night, so just decided to sleep, last night the wind was much more variable, so it was harder to get any rest. After the start, we both (Nicolas Troussel) decided to head off together, and yesterday he managed to get away, but he must be somewhere close. We know that we both took a risk and we have to see how it develops. Earlier I would have said that I could get to the Birvideaux around 6 now, the wind is not stable so I think I have at least another 10 hours to get there and but I am preparing for some stronger conditions. Yesterday I saw Littoral head off further west of me and for now I do not have him in sight, whoever leads round the Birvideaux [light on Belle Ile] will be well placed to get in first at Saint Gilles.”

Meanwhile out to the east Armel le Cleac'h on Brit Air and Eric Drouglazet on Pixmania.com are doggedly leading the eastern group who still appear to be in northerly breeze (the course is due north). Sam Davies on Roxy is at the back of this group having tumbled to a lowly 34rd place.

It is with a mixture of envy and admiration that the other competitors mull over the leader's daring move. There is after all a history of competitors taking big flier and coming out smelling of roses in the Figaro. “You had to be planning to make the move. I was not. Their clairvoyance has been outstanding and their gamble has paid off the best,” admitted fifth placed Jean-Paul Mouren. “

I am a bit stressed, particularly because we have really fought for it out here but for not much as those to the west have got away,” similarly bemoans Laurent Pellecuer ( Cliptol Sport) who blames the forecasts he was given at the start for not foreseeing the lack of wind further to the east. The only regret he has is “to not have had a better forecast and planned my route differently. I was placed well and worked so hard at the start and although it is not over until the end, the others have made up a lot of ground.”

The conditions have been anything but straightforward and proven to test the singlehanded sailor’s abilities to the extreme. “We will have gone from 0 knots to 30” comments Erwan Tabarly ( Iceberg Finances), currently in 9th place and 40.2 miles behind Financo, as he prepares for the influence of a low pressure system closing in over the fleet. Yann Eliès ( Groupe Generali Assurances) is also preparing his boat “forget about fine tuning and let’s get ready for some heavy sailing”.

A depresion is expected to track south and end up in Bay of Biscay right over the fleet over the course of the next 24 hours. The system will cause the wind to back to the southwest and a front which will see the wind build from 12-18 knots up to 20-25 with gusts of up to 30 knots overnight and rough seas with waves up to 3m - rather different to the calms the boats were experiencing yesterday.

The leading boats are expected round the lighthouse early evening and make a steady progress south to arrive in Saint Gilles early tomorrow morning. The Figaro is a race based on accumulated time over the four legs, so Nicolas Troussel’s present advantage could turn out to be not just a leg winning, but a race winning situation.