Postponed again

New course for the Solitaire du Figaro's third leg to avoid storms forecast in the Irish Sea next week

Following the postponement ashore to the start of the third and final leg of La Solitaire du Figaro race this morning, a modification to the course was announced to the skippers this afternoon. Because of the 40 to 50 knots of wind forecast over the Celtic and Irish Seas on Tuesday, the course will no longer take the fleet up round the Isle of Man, which would be dangerous for the 46 strong fleet of solo sailors. The new course is 501 miles long and will take the fleet 250 miles west of Brittany and back to the finish with a mark south off the Ile de Sein. The new start is scheduled for 1800 French time today.

The strong winds predicted for Tuesday would have been dangerous and right over the course the fleet of 46 sailors would have been racing through. “We were in a difficult situation facing a complex building depression whose passage is hard to forecast,” explained Race Director Jacques Caraës after the meeting. “These depressions can generate strong, very strong winds from the south west, in the St George’s Channel on the return down from the Isle of Man and no doubt would have meant finishing the race in Ireland. I have therefore preferred to set a new course that is long and which is still interesting sports-wise and that will also get the skippers into l’Aber Wrac’h before the very strong winds hit. Although tough we would have preferred to have this long leg, one that we have been planning and thinking of doing for a long time, you can’t go against nature particularly when it comes down to the safety of the competitors. We are not here to play circus games. It is nature that dictates the law here. The leg, some 500 miles will still be interesting and with lots options to play with.”

The new course, 501 miles long takes the fleet to the Brittany buoy, a weather mark 250 miles west of Brest followed by a run south to a cardinal mark off the Ile de Sein and a run up to the finish in L’Aber Wrac’h leaving a number of marks to starboard. Some 25 to 30 knots if westerly wind is forecast for the long beat up to the Brittany Buoy then it is a reach down to Sein followed by a spinnaker run up to the Breton host port.

“With this new course I loose the advantage of sailing in home waters," foresees Andy Greenwood, the sole British competitor. "Initially it will be tough to sail up to the new buoy then it should be slightly easier, this does swing back into the favour of those who sail around there and know the area well. Effectively we will be doing a 500 mile windward-leeward race with a spreader mark.”

On the changes race leader Nicolas Troussel ( Financo) said: "It is a wise decision. Yes, we are going to have to slog 250 miles tacking upwind in strong winds, but it is better than what was originally planned. The Race Committee listened to the skipper’s worries. The course is still going to be interesting and there is going to be lots to play for, let’s go!”

Leg 2 winner Gildas Morvan ( Cercle Vert) added: “It was still going to be possible to get up to the Isle of Man, but this morning, the latest weather models showed that the return down the Irish Sea in over 45 knots of headwinds, and the associated sea state, would have been quite impossible. The idea now is to head offshore of Brest, round a weather mark (Brittany Buoy), on a more practical course, even though it is still going to be windy. This should still be quite a rough leg with some difficult passages, off Ushant and Sein. It is not going to be a stroll in the park.”

Gildas Mahé ( Le Comptoir Immobilier) gave his view: “It is a wise decision; otherwise it would have been dangerous. All that said, it is still going to be a difficult race, with lots of miles do upwind in 25 to 30 knots with rough seas. Once we have rounded the mark it is going to be downwind to L’Aber Wrac’h. It is like a massive 500 windward-leeward race. Upwind it is going to be hard to watch the lateral gap of the other skippers and we do not get their positions. It is going to be up to use to choose our tacks. The advantage will go to those with offshore sailing experience…but that’s life, sailing at the end of the day is a sport that you adapt yourself to.”

Frédéric Duthil (Distinxion Automobile): “This change to the programme is a good thing for the whole fleet. All that said, the new course, with 250 miles of upwind sailing is not quite my cup of tea. I will do like all the others, I will just have to adapt myself.”

Considering the weather and modified course, the fleet is expected to arrive in l’Aber Wrac’h by Tuesday 12 August, ahead of the next strong depression.

Sadly the fleet is down to 46 competitors for the last leg of La Solitaire du Figaro. Sojasun skipper Liz Wardley has also announced that she will not, for medical reasons, be on the start line in Cherbourg-Octeville.

There are a total of four skipper who have retired now: Liz and Pietro D’Ali ( Mc Louis) join Franck Le Gal ( Lenze), and Jean Philippe Le Meitour ( La Voix de l’enfant) who abandoned at the end of the second leg.