Underway again

La Solitaire Afflelou le Figaro fleet set sail for upwind leg to Dingle

Just two days after arriving in the Vendee region town of Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, the Figaro sailors this afternon set off on the third leg of La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro race, towards Dingle, Ireland. With little time for rest following a particularly exhausting second leg race from Santander and not much time to dwell on what appears to be a tough forecast for the run up to Dingle, the 44 solo sailors left almost reluctantly for the 1300 start. In the stat area the fleet encountered 15 knots of SSWerly breeze and swell as forecast for the early part of this 479 mile course to southern Ireland.

Fréderic Duthill on Brossard was the first competitor to reach the offset mark, before heading for the Radio France buoy, just off Ile d’Yeu. The fleet remained in close contact throughout this initial short upwind leg where Laurent Pellecuer on Cliptol Sport was first to the Radio France buoy some two hours after the start gun was fired. He was followed by Jeanne Grégoire on Banque Populaire and Armel Le Cléac’h on Brit Air in third.

Tactics have slightly changed slightly now that both Nicolas Troussel ( Financo) and Thierry Chabagny ( Littoral) hold such a comfortable time lead who may attempt to employ more radical means to challenge their lead.

The forecast does open up some options. At present the weather on the race course is being dominated by an area of low pressure over Scotland, the boats feeling the effects of the southerly lobe of this. However the forecast indicates the low will receed north putting the boats on the wind by the time they reach Ushant

Soon after the start Frederic Duthil on Brossard gave his comments about the opening stage of the race: “A good start off the line, a bit frustrated about missing [first place] the Radio France buoy every time. I do not always have the best boat speed which could be due to the boat not being perfectly tuned or the sails not fitting ideally. We had a bit of rain off the start and there will be more to come, but the weather is good now so I am making the most of it to eat. It is nice to leave with some good wind and not had to be upwind for the start. Reaching is much more fun.”

Laurent Pellecuer on Cliptol Sport said: “It is great to pass the mark in the lead after always getting round in 2nd or 3rd last year! Now I just have to get moving. There are a few people trying to fly their spinnakers, but it will be more likely for later tonight. The reaching conditions are great and the bulk of the fleet is slightly south of the rhumb line, but on a direct heading for Ireland.”

Jeanne Grégoire ( Banque Populaire) gave her update: “I have had a great start, better than ever and am really pleased. It is really great, so I am going to make the most of this time to try and get a bit of rest because it should not last. Reaching for now and upwind conditions for later.”

Laurent Gouezigoux ( Côtes d’Armor): “I have not had that much time to prepare for this third leg. I arrived on Wednesday night at 8 pm, ate, went to bed and slept until Thursday lunchtime. Then I went straight into the activities, prize giving, weather preparation etc. As I was really annoyed with the way I sailed on the second leg (I was one of the first to head out west, but did not have the nerve to stay) I just had to climb up as many places as I could. This leg is going to be tough with upwind sailing in a big swell and where the pros and more experienced will no doubt stand the pressure better.”

Gedimat has been repaired and ready for third leg and skipper former Mini Transat winner Armel Tripon thanks his shore crew, David Salle and all the people in the port of Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie who have helped him fix his Figaro Bénéteau II. The boat was damaged after Scutum collided with his boat at the start of the second leg in Santander, causing damage to the stern of the boat. Consequently Tripon had no power for the duration of the leg. It was down to old fashioned sailing with paper charts and no autopilot.

“The people of the town and David Salle, my shore crew, have done a fantastic job," said Tripon "No sooner had I arrived that the boat was out of the water. This gave me time to concentrate on resting and studying the weather forecasts for the third leg. The weather situation is clearer than it was yesterday; I think we will have a northwesterly with a possible ease tonight. Generally it is going to be upwind, upwind and more upwind with a swell and more swell. It will be important to place oneself well on the approach to the Irish coastline and negotiate the ridge that has been forecast. There should be some play, which suits me fine. I have worked out my strategy and will fine tune it on the water as I get the weather faxes through. I really want to go, sail and enjoy my time on the water.”