Off again

After a weekend in Crosshaven, the Figaro sets sail on leg two this morning

Top conditions are forecast for the of the second leg La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro; 344 miles from Crosshaven in Ireland to Brest in France. The 50 sailors competing are due to start in the Bay of Cork at 11am this morning and are likely to complete this the second leg in just two days.

The fleet are now up to their full compliment once again with the return of British sailor James Bird to the fleet on GFI Group, following his collision with a submerged object prior to the start of leg one. "“I am really happy to be here and getting back into the race is a real relief. We should have some great conditions for the Figaro and I think it should be really good fun to have the long downwind spinnaker run from the Fastnet and search for the surfs. My main objective is to try and make up on the 15-hour deficit I have to start with and try and come in at the head of the rookie leader board in Brest.

"It is going to be a case of going as fast as you can and get as mileage in before the wind drops. The finish will technical and quite hard with the rocks, tides and overflows particularly as I think it is going to be quite light, shifty and flukey so it plays well into the hands of the local sailors."

After a short inshore dogleg course, the fleet will head west along the south coast of Ireland to the first mark, the Fastnet Rock, leaving this to port, before heading southeast towards the finish line in the northwestern tip of France.

With a depression centred over east Scotland, the boats will be in for a starboard tack fetch to the Fastnet, the wind freeing up slightly as it veers from the WNW to the NW. With the on-set of a lobe of high pressure coming in from the Atlantic, the wind is forecast to build to 20-25 knots over the course of tonight and will continue veering round to the north by Tuesday, dropping slightly to making for good fast broad reacing conditions for the Figarists as they head off on the 226 mile leg to France.

However the high pressure is due to engulf the boats come Tuesday morning causing the northerly flow to lighten. The end of this leg looks set to be a case of the rich getting richer. “This is where we could see gaps build as the less experienced get left behind,” agrees Race Director, Jacques Caraes. as does Sylvain Mondon from Meteo France, France’s National Weather Service provider. “Conditions are then due to lighten and once the fleet reach Ushant, we could see wind backing slightly to the north and drop to 10 knots."

The final miles to the finish in the Rade de Brest are possibly the most tactical. “If the gaps have not already built and there is a bunched finish, there could be a real fight for the lead,” continues Caraës. First competitors must thread their way through the Molène archipelago and then the Pierre Vertes and Pierres Noires rocks, before the bottleneck entrance to the Bay of Brest. The combination of a lightening breeze, sea breeze together with a strong tide will make this most tactical, with local knowledge being a bonus that could produce further changes to the leader boards on the final miles.

“You must not neglect the first 60 miles along the coast to the Fastnet as there will be a few options not to be missed," warns leg one winner Fred Duthil, skipper of Distinxion. "I have raced that route twice before and it is quite testing with wind, overfalls resulting in many sail changes. There is quite a lot at play there and then for the next stage, it is a speed race for sure. I should be okay but I must not slow under spinnaker. Being the leader is not going to affect too much the way I sail, not even my philosophy: each tack, each area of the course must be sailed as best as possible - that’s it. I do have some apprehension, but I felt the same before the start…so all is okay, which means that I feel well in my race.”