Bos extends

Surprise leader in leg three of the Solitaire Afflelou le Figaro

The Figaro sailors taking part in the third leg of La Solitaire from Brest to La Coruña in Galicia prepare today for the harsh conditions that are forecast to sweep the fleet in the Bay of Biscay from tomorrow afternoon. Christian Bos ( Belle-Ile en Mer) has grabbed the lead from Jean-Pierre Nicol, the first to round the BXA mark this morning and has stretched his lead to 5.3 miles over his immediate pursuer as he hits the first breeze.

The fleet of Figaro boats were becalmed this morning upon round the BXA mark: “not a puff of wind, the flat sea is just marked in small places by little puff of air this afternoon in the Bay of Biscay,” came the report from the Race Committee boat following the leaders. The breeze is due to come in gradually and gently from the west and build this evening to 15 knots as it backs to the southwest tomorrow and steadily building to 30-35 knots gusting 40 knots tomorrow night when the front comes through.

Christian Bos ( Belle-Ile en Mer), taking part for the sixth time, positioned favourably furthest west and has hit the first of the breeze to make which is reflected in his higher average boat speed (3.9 as opposed to 1.9 knots), allowing him to extend his lead over the competition. Robert Nagy ( Véolia), second round the BXA mark this morning, follows behind with Gildas Mahé ( Le Comptoir Immobilier) in third. Michel Desjoyeaux ( Foncia) and Nicolas Troussel ( Financo) are following the same northerly routeand are 7 and 7.7 miles behind the leader on the latest position update.

Vincent Biarnes ( Côtes d’Armor) in seventh place has opted for a more southerly course and is making steady gains. The aim now for the remainder of the fleet reach the breeze as fast as possible in order to minimise the distance Christian Bos can gain over the coming hours.

The solo sailors have made the most of the light conditions this morning after round the BXA mark to get some sleep and work out just how to tackle the impending front, south closer to the northern shores of Spain in hope for a better sea state to give them faster boat speed, or straight on course to minimise the distance to the finish. For now, reaching the breeze is a priority and then preparing the boat for some uncomfortable upwind sailing from tomorrow.

Words from the boats:

Thierry Chabagny ( Brossard): “Mich (Desjoyeaux) is next to me, but I am not going to try and talk to him as I am trying to overtake him! We hit an area with no wind, but it is nice now to hear the boat creaking in the wind. It will be important to place yourself well in preparation for the depression that is coming. We need to just keep going. The first night I slept quite a bit then the second night I kept telling myself I will sleep in a bit and then it was just impossible. The descent down to BXA was quite hard work; lots of gybes and the water was quite choppy.”

Jean-Paul Nicol (Gavottes) “It was quite a shock rounding ahead, but a really good one, especially after quite a bad start! It did surprise me but then I really try and tackle each race and work on the best options and I could see that there was an option. I could see that there was something to be done. I managed to get a bit of sleep out on deck this morning, with the wind blowing which was nice. I know that the wind is due to come in so it is a matter of being right or left. Christian Boss has moved ahead of me.”

Marc Emig ( AS.T Groupe): “I was not on the right side on the approach to BXA and sailed badly all night, so am paying for it now. There has been a little surprise by those who were closer to shore. Anyway, now it is like starting at zero all over again. I managed to sleep a bit early this morning before getting this big patch of calm. It is unfortunately a leg where the rich get richer. Those ahead will get the wind first and make the most headway. Then it is not going to be easy with a front bringing 35 to 40 knots with a shift to the West to go and look for.”

Jeanne Grégoire ( Banque Populaire): “I have just opened up a hard boiled egg that was cooked for too long, it does not smell too good and it does not look to good either! Truthfully, that is what my race looks like so far. I feel like that on this Figaro I have not been able to do the right thing and be in the right place. When the wind does come in I am more inclined to go towards to coastline mainly to avoid the rough seas which will then give me a chance to go a bit faster.”

Robert Nagy (Théolia): “Yesterday I was positioned slightly right closer to shore to be on the right side for the wind shift. I was not as far right as Jean-Pierre Nicol (Gavottes), but it worked out. Up until a minute ago I thought I would have to anchor…but have got away without having to do it. Looking ahead, we have some tough conditions coming. I had the bright idea of getting an hour and quarter’s sleep since BXA: it must have been the best idea so far today!”

Positions at 1900

Pos	Skipper	Boat	Lat	Long	Crs	Spd	DTF/L
1	Bos Christian	Belle Ile en Mer	45 26' 88' N	2 34' 33' W	282 º	4.7	280.7 nm
2	Nicol Jean-Pierre	Gavottes	45 29' 13' N	2 26' 56' W	280 º	4.5	7.8 nm
3	Mahe Gildas	Le Comptoir Immobilier	45 28' 89' N	2 26' 07' W	287 º	4.3	8.1 nm
4	Desjoyeaux Michel	Foncia	45 28' 59' N	2 25' 50' W	281 º	4.8	8.3 nm
5	Morvan Gildas	Cercle Vert	45 29' 02' N	2 23' 76' W	282 º	5.1	9.6 nm
6	Biarnes Vincent	Côtes d'Armor	45 24' 99' N	2 21' 21' W	281 º	3.6	9.8 nm
7	Troussel Nicolas	Financo	45 29' 15' N	2 23' 37' W	286 º	5.2	9.9 nm
8	Pratt Christopher	Espoir Crédit Agricole	45 28' 14' N	2 12' 50' W	256 º	3.8	11 nm
9	Douguet Corentin	E. Leclerc / Bouygues Telecom	45 29' 57' N	2 21' 24' W	278 º	4.8	11.5 nm
10	Duthil Frédéric	Distinxion	45 30' 11' N	2 21' 45' W	279 º	4.5	11.5 nm
11	Veniard Gérald	Scutum	45 32' 92' N	2 18' 24' W	275 º	4.2	14.6 nm
12	D’Ali Pietro	Kappa	45 28' 75' N	2 15' 89' W	284 º	3.7	14.7 nm
13	Drouglazet Eric	Luisina	45 30' 29' N	2 15' 69' W	288 º	4.3	15.3 nm
14	Treussart Ronan	Groupe Celeos	45 30' 30' N	2 15' 82' W	284 º	4.3	15.3 nm
15	Lunven Nicolas	Bostik	45 30' 89' N	2 15' 97' W	280 º	4.2	15.4 nm
16	Berenger Nicolas	KONE Ascenseurs	45 25' 74' N	2 12' 62' W	200 º	3.8	15.7 nm
17	Le Gal Franck	Lenze	45 31' 23' N	2 15' 54' W	285 º	4.8	15.8 nm
18	de Broc Bertrand	Les Mousquetaires	45 30' 33' N	2 12' 22' W	274 º	4.8	17.6 nm
19	Grégoire Jeanne	Banque Populaire	45 30' 72' N	2 12' 05' W	283 º	5.2	17.9 nm
20	Rouxel Thomas	Défi Mousquetaires	45 31' 54' N	2 10' 58' W	282 º	5	19.1 nm
21	Rivet Frédéric	Novotel Caen	45 31' 33' N	2 09' 45' W	285 º	5.4	19.8 nm
22	Mouren Jean-Paul	M@rseillEntreprises	45 31' 15' N	2 09' 25' W	274 º	5.4	19.9 nm
23	Emig Marc	A.ST Groupe	45 31' 75' N	2 08' 79' W	288 º	5.7	20.4 nm
24	King Nigel	Nigel King Yachting	45 31' 86' N	2 05' 88' W	279 º	5	22.3 nm
25	Lepesqueux Marc	Rapid' Flore - Caen-La-Mer	45 25' 19' N	2 00' 60' W	275 º	4	23.5 nm
26	Nigon Erik	AXA Atout Coeur Pour AIDES	45 25' 16' N	1 59' 22' W	274 º	3.4	24.4 nm
27	Bougard Patrice	Kogane	45 32' 43' N	2 01' 57' W	269 º	4	25.3 nm
28	Lebas Christophe	LoLa La piscine assemblée	45 35' 01' N	1 59' 77' W	264 º	2.2	27.4 nm
29	Le Miere Grégoire	Basse-Normandie / OTCex Group	45 34' 49' N	1 58' 28' W	263 º	2.5	28.2 nm
30	Pellecuer Laurent	Cliptol Sport	45 39' 72' N	2 01' 24' W	266 º	2.9	28.2 nm
31	Monnet Jean-Charles	Degrémont Suez Source de Talents	45 36' 26' N	1 59' 28' W	244 º	2.9	28.2 nm
32	Wardley Liz	Sojasun	45 35' 21' N	1 58' 30' W	249 º	2.6	28.5 nm
33	Duprey du Vorsent Thierry	Domaine du Mont d'Arbois	45 39' 36' N	1 59' 98' W	261 º	2.3	28.9 nm
34	Belloir Aymeric	CAP 56	45 39' 60' N	1 58' 62' W	289 º	2.4	29 nm
35	Loison Alexis	ALL MER Inéo Suez	45 38' 45' N	1 59' 11' W	269 º	2.4	29.1 nm
36	O’Rian Paul	City Jet	45 36' 33' N	1 57' 15' W	250 º	1.7	29.6 nm
37	Thiercelin Marc	Siemens	45 34' 58' N	1 55' 29' W	276 º	1.9	30.2 nm
38	Defert Eric	Suzuki Automobiles	45 39' 53' N	1 57' 98' W	272 º	2.2	30.3 nm
39	Tripon Armel	Gedimat	45 36' 93' N	1 56' 11' W	267 º	1.6	30.5 nm
40	Da Cruz Antonio-Pedro	Baïko	45 29' 54' N	1 49' 85' W	273 º	2.8	32.1 nm
41	Le Nabour Quentin	Votre Nom pour Le Figaro	45 26' 97' N	1 38' 58' W	169 º	3.5	38.7 nm
42	Nabart Laurent	Corsica	45 23' 15' N	1 32' 79' W	196 º	4	41.4 nm
43	Le Meitour Jean-Philippe	Construction DORSO	45 31' 70' N	1 35' 22' W	246 º	1.9	42.4 nm
44	Bulot Jean-François	Crédit Mutuel de Normandie - Ville de Caen	45 36' 97' N	1 37' 03' W	242 º	1.9	43 nm
45	Le Baut Jimmy	Port Olona - Arrimer	45 48' 35' N	1 39' 83' W	152 º	4.6	62 nm
46	Bird James	GFI Group	45 42' 37' N	2 34' 31' W	242 º	4.3	94.8 nm
NL	Chabagny Thierry	Brossard			º		nm
NL	Nagy Robert	Théolia			º		nm
ABD	Svilarich Etienne	Grain de Soleil			0 º	0	nm
ABD	Bouillard Didier	MEDevent	43 22' 14' N	8 23' 86' W	89 º	0	nm