Nail biter

Veniard vindicated as conclusion of leg three of the Solitaire Afflelou le Figaro turns into a game of snakes and leader

In one of the most dramatic finishes in the history of the Solitaire du Figaro, the first 17 boats into Dingle, southwest Ireland arrived within 10 minutes in the early hours this morning.

Yesterday afternoon had seen Jeanne Gregoire and Liz Wardley, two of the three female sailors in this year's race move into the first two positions. Not to be outdone Sam Davies on Roxy took a westerly flier offshore on the approach to Dingle and sailing under spinnaker at 10 knots moved right up the fleet to second position by yesterday evening as those inshore wallowed.

As the tide and weak wind turned the finish into a lottery, so last night's more regular polling of the boats showed a game of snakes and ladder going on on the water.

The visibility was poor in the dark, damp and cold night. Then suddenly two miles from the finish line 20 boats seemed to simultaneously appear out of the gloom, their spinnakers ghostly in the darkness of Dingle Bay. Right up to the final moments, any of them could have won. Those further north, benefited from a breeze at the last minute, to cross in the lead. The first 33 boats arrive in just 24 minutes!

Ultimately it was Gérald Veniard sailing on Scutum, the deposed winner of leg 1 that crossed the finish line at 00h36m55s to win the third leg of La Solitaire Afflelou le Figaro after 83h 36m 55s of racing at an average 5.73 knots over a 479 miles course from Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie.

Veniard screamed with joy upon crossing the finish line though disappointed for Jeanne Grégoire on Banque Populaire, who crossed in sixth place just minutes later who had led for most of the race since the start on Friday. “This is more like it! After having my win stripped in Santander (from a 24 minute penalty for exceeding the weight limit before the start of the race) it feels good," he said. "I've got my revenge and dedicate it to my preparateur, Corentin Chenais, who was really upset by the whole affair. This win comes at the right moment although it is slightly unexpected.”

Former Solitaire du Figaro winner Eric Drouglazet on PIXmania.com followed just 3 minutes 21 seconds later in second place. “Getting a second place is always good," commented Drouglazet. "It does not change much the overall results. I did zigzags to fight my way up to the lead and I truly have a great speed under spinnaker. I think I handled my sleep really well. I arrive here fresh as a daisy and could have carried on for a further 200 miles. It was a tough leg and you had had to keep your cool. The two finishes I have known in Dingle have always finished in a dead calm. It is always very delicate so I knew anything could happen. The coastline here is magical, wild, almost lunar, a hostile landscape that is beautiful to see.”

Third place was taken by the rookie sailor Gildas Mahé on Le Comptoir Immobilier."
“It was madness getting here," he commented on arriving." This is really satisfying for me. In the Bay, just before the finish, you could not see a thing and there were boats all over the place. I never saw myself finishing in this position, not even when I entered the Bay. Sailing is a humbling sport where anything can happen. Seeing how things turned out, you feel like you have just come out of a two hour race! At the same time it is tough on the others. Jeanne has really touched everyone as she did lead the race for the most part. She was always following the wind and always in the lead.”


The three girls, who threatened the lead and dominated the race towards the end finished within just 2 minutes and 3 seconds of each other: Jeanne Grégoire ( Banque Populaire) in 6th, followed by Liz Wardley ( Sojasun) in 9th and Samantha Davies ( Roxy) in 12th.

"“I was really well placed for the finished and then the wind just shifted to the right and did a 180 as I was closing in on the finish line," commented Wardley." I did some really fast sailing together with Jeff (Lubexcel) when I kept my spinnaker up in 25 knots, which must have given me some quite high average speeds. I had quite a few problems with my electrics at the start, no doubt caused by crashing down on some of the waves near the beginning, which meant no GPS and autopilot problems. I could not actually leave the helm so just have just not had any sleep or cooking and then I also ran low on water.”

Samantha Davies ( Roxy): “I was really happy with the move to go west and it paid off, but I did feel a bit bad for Jeanne and Liz who I could see stuck in the Bay.”

The overall results after three legs have yet tobe calculated but Nicholas Troussel on Financo will still be leading overall despite finishing 23rd on this leg.

Results leg 3:

1-Scutum-Gérald Véniard-arrives 22/08/2006 at 00:36:55 after 83:36:55 hours of racing
2-PIXmania.com-Eric Drouglazet- at 0:03:21
3-Le Comptoir Immobilier-Gildas Mahé- at 0:04:08
4-Cliptol Sport-Laurent Pellecuer- at 0:04:10 from the leader
5-A.ST Groupe-Marc Emig- at 0:04:15
6-Banque Populaire-Jeanne Grégoire- at 0:04:18
7-Kone Ascenseurs-Nicolas Bérenger- at 0:04:45
8-Groupe Generali assurances-Yann Eliès- at 0:05:01
9-Sojasun-Liz Wardley- at 0:05:21
10-Brit Air-Armel Le Cléac'h- at 0:05:52
11-Iceberg Finance-Erwan Tabarly- at 0:06:05
12-Roxy-Sam Davies- at 0:06:21
13-Axa Plaisance-Oliver Krauss- at 0:07:05
14-Brossard-Fred Duthil- at 0:07:55
15-Armor Lux-Christophe Lebas- at 0:08:31
16-Lubexcel-Jean-François Pellet - at 0:08:54
17-E. Leclerc-Bouygues Telecom-Corentin Douguet- at 0:10:03
18-Nanni Diesel-Pietro D'Ali- at 0:10:09
19-Starkey-Alexandre Toulorge- at 0:10:29
20-Littoral-Thierry Chabagny- at 0:11:04
21-CIGO-Eric Peron- at 0:11:09
22-Groupe Bel-Kito de Pavant- at 0:11:23
23-Financo-Nicolas Troussel- at 0:11:28
24-Défi Santé Nutrition-Thomas Rouxel- at 0:13:23
25-M@rseillEntreprises-Jean-Paul Mouren- at 0:13:35
26-Delta Dore-Erwan Israel- at 0:14:13
27-Groupe Céléos-Ronan Treussart- at 0:14:32
28-Bostik-Charles Caudrelier- at 0:16:05
29-Gedimat-Armel Tripon- at 0:17:44
30-Sogeti-Etienne Svilarich- at 0:19:25
31-Cercle Vert-Gildas Morvan- at 0:20:17
32-Virbac-Paprec-Jean-Pierre Dick- at 0:23:12
33-AltéAd Pays de Loire-Damien Seguin- at 0:24:22
34-Espoir Crédit Agricole-Christopher Pratt- at 0:28:49
35-Région Basse-Normandie-Alexis Loison- at 0:31:19
36-Theolia-Robert Nagy- at 0:34:55
37-La Normandise-Jérôme Aubert- at 0:36:54
38-Man of all Seasons-Grégoire Le Mière- at 0:43:15
39-Lenze-Franck Le Gal- at 0:43:25