Early lead to Duthil

As La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro gets underway from Caen - ETA at the Needles, tomorrow morning!

It was with a sense of release that many of the solo skippers finally got to cross the start line of La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro. The morning of today's start was spent checking over the latest weather files, double and triple checking equipment and fittings and tweaking the routing for the first leg that lies ahead: 415 miles from Caen, northern France to Crosshaven, southern Ireland.

At 15h20 today 49 skippers competing in La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro crossed the start line to set off round the initial 15.3 mile long inshore course to the Radio France Bouy. This they sailed in ideal sailing conditions: clear skies, a flat sea and 10 knots of northerly breeze.

At the start there were three individual recalls given to Jeanne Gregoire ( Banque Populaire), Pietro D’Alì ( Kappa) and Nicolas Lunven ( Bostik). Early on five-time world champion windsurfer, Robert Nagy ( Theolia) was leading by some 10 boat lengths over Frederic Duthil ( Distinxion).

The fleet face a 35 mile reach west along the Cotentin coastline to Barfleur, before they head across the Channel to the Fairway marker buoy off the Needles this evening.

Sadly one boat in the 50 strong Figaro fleet failed to make the start. Disaster struck James Bird's GFI Group when upon leaving the canal between Caen and Ouistreham and heading out towards the start area, GFI Group hit something whilst preparing to tack. "I was just about to tack with 2.5 metres of depth when suddenly I stopped dead - from 7 knots to nothing, which just threw me down the hatch," the 24 year old British skipper explained. "I am going to go back to Caen and see what the situation is and to try and fix it tonight, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to rejoin tomorrow."

This morning, race veteran Michel Desjoyeaux and his Foncia said the weather conditions looked to be slightly better than predicted yesterday: the "wind should be more established today and a little less complicated for tomorrow. We are going to have to make the most of any opportunities that that come our way and there should be quite a lot at play along the south coast of England." The general thought is that there will not be much sleep for the sailors on the first part of the race.

The key to a successful Figaro race according to Jean-Yves Chauve, the Race Doctor, working on his 21st Solitaire race this year, is managing sleep deprivation. "When you are at sea tiredness becomes hard to handle and it comes on quickly and then it is easy to make poor judgements and boat handling is tougher. It is imperative to manage your sleep well and in particular to properly sleep when possible. This heavily influences a singlehanded sailors' performance so the more experienced ones are able to take 10 to 30 minute naps to keep them alert. On a three day race like this one, you can expect the sailors to get something like one hour’s sleep every 24 hours. The first year is always hard for the rookies because even if you are very good at boat handling it is your sleep management that will be toughest."

For this leg it is likely the fleet will remain quite bunched skippers playing the tactics and not making important strategic moves, initially at least. The current however, which can be very strong at key headlands such as Start Point and the Lizard, together with the forecast wind shift on Wednesday may eventually result in some large gaps developing between the competitors. Looking ahead, keeping a clear and focused mind to make the right tactical decisions at the right times, is going to be the key to coming out on top on this first leg.

First 10 at the Radio France Buoy:
1. Frederic Duthil - Distinxion
2. Nicolas Trousell - Financo
3. Robert Nagy - Theolia
4. Marc Emig - A.ST Groupe
5. Gerald Veniard - Scutum
6. Michel Desjoyeaux - Foncia
7. Nicolas Berenger - Kone
8. Gildas Mahe - Le Comptoir Inmobilier
9. Frederic Rivet - Novotel Caen
10. Laurent Pellecuer - Cliptol Sport

Quotes:

Nigel King ( Nigel King Yachting) - What do you do in the final hours before the start of a race like this? I have just tried to do what I have done a million times before on other campaigns, not get too stressed, we are only going to sea for three days, it a short little trip and just try to be normal and stick to normal habits. I do not feel too nervous, but I suppose I will be once I get out there just on to get off the start line.

"The last thing you can do is get the latest weather as close as possible to the start and generally I like to just go round and check all the systems, do all the jobs again and go through a routine of checking that everything is working. It has all worked before, but you always worry that it is not going to work on the last day!

“Marcel van Trieste is working on the weather as part of an agreement with La Rochelle where I have been training. It is in French, but still very helpful!”

Thierry Duprey du Vorsent ( Domaine du Mont d’Arbois), rookie on the race talks about the stress before the start of the race today: "It is funny, I am more nervous here than at the star of a Route du Rhum, it is quite amazing. But then maybe it is because there are 50 other competitors and it is a boat that I have less handling experience compared to a multihull.” Duprey in recent years has skippered Baron Benjamin de Rothchild's trimarans. "Here I have to think about quite a few things...like the choice of sail plan for example. This race format is unknown territory for me. I am however used to going offshore for 7 to 10 days, which allows you to get into a rhythm.”

Jeanne Grégoire ( Banque Populaire) talks about the last night ashore before the start:
"I did toss and turn a bit and ran through the route in detail in my mind. I had to run through the whole leg twice in my head and then at about midnight I finally managed to get to sleep.”

Liz Wardley ( Sojasun), talks about the tough points for this leg: "It is going to be quite hard tonight when the thermal breeze drops and we have quite a lot of current at Barfleur. After the Channel crossing we are going to have to make a decision at the Needles whether to go inshore or offshore. There is a lot to play for at this stage and quite large gaps can build between the first and last. I am going to have to keep calm and concentrate on making the right decisions about the wind and the current."

Jean Paul Mouren ( MarseillEntreprises): On sailing for the 20th year in the Solitaire
"This is my 80th leg in the Solitaire and I must admit that with this lovely weather I am not all that nervous. I am however going to try and use all my senses because all the competition here is very good. I think it is going to a matter of making the right decisions with the currents and tides along the south of England. This could be either very positive or very negative!"