Another night in a bed

The start of the second leg of the Solitaire du Figaro is postponed to allow skippers recovery time

Jacques Caraes, Race Director of La Soltiare du Figaro announced this afternoon, a postponement to the start of the second leg of the race from Vigo to Cherbourg in France. The start of this 590 mile leg was to have been on Thursday 31st at 16:00 but has been put back until Friday at 10:00.

The decision was taken in order to give the sailors time enough to recover from a very gruelling first leg followed by a 130-mile delivery trip to Vigo while they were exhausted. The first boats reached the Galician port of Vigo last night and the last 24 hours later.

In the best case, some of the sailors would have had less than 24 hours to recover while those who came in last would have had their stay reduced to a very short night in a hotel bed. Not enough, according to the Race Doctor, Jean Yves Chauve. “Leaving after just 24-hours would not have been enough. The risk being that the skippers would just crumble on the second leg upon reaching Ushant. There is an immediate tiredness that one can try and compensate for, however there is also a delayed tiredness that takes much longer to recover from. It is no coincidence that in certain professions, like airline pilots for example, you get long recovery periods. Catching up on sleep and the capacity to recuperate is very different for each person. 73 hours without sleep, like the length of this first leg, just can’t be recovered in only one night.”

While most of the sailors where prepared for the short stop over in Spain, the decision taken by the Race Director and his team is one that is measured and makes sense. It is also one that calms any worries the skippers felt this morning when they arrived exhausted into Vigo.

The main worry the delay could cause for the organisers in terms of the weather is more light weather forecast. All things aside, Race Director Jacques Caraës, was reassuring: “When you look at the weather files for Friday, we should be in a light weather system with some 8 to 10 knots of WNW wind. It is enough for a nice start. The first 12 hours or so will need careful handling before the breeze picks up with a front coming in from the southwest which will then allow the competitors to head on a direct course for Cherbourg.”

Because of the delayed start, “we have decided to not start deep into the Bay of Vigo, as would normally be the case, but set the line further out”, continues Caraës. “This should give the competitors a chance to get off quickly and have a nice race. It was not an easy decision to make, but it is quite simple, taking into account two essential factors, that of lack of sleep, recuperation time, which means security and then the weather. We have found a good middle point to ensure for a good race the day after tomorrow” continued Jacques.

“The race start will be quite simple: one line, probably and offset mark and then they head for the thermal breeze to get up to the North of Spain and then jump on to a westerly breeze that will take them towards Cherbourg. “It is just a matter of what makes sense,” concludes Caraës.

The three boats that suffered damage on the delivery trip, Grégoire Le Mière (OTCEx Group), Alexis Loison (Allmer Ineo GDF Suez) and Christophe Lebas (Lola) have managed to make repairs and should be ready for the Friday morning start.

Real Club Nautico de Vigo hosts prize giving

At 18:00 this evening, the Real Club Nautico de Vigo hosted the prize giving for the first leg of La Solitaire du Figaro.

The skippers where awarded prizes by Fernando Blanco Alvarez, the regional Minister for Industry and Development, Ruben Lois Gonzales, the General Director of Tourism for the Regional Galician Government, Xesus Pereira Lopez, Directeur for Turgalicia, Santiago Dominguez Olveira, Deputy Mayor of Vigo, Jésus Paz Arias, President of the Vigo Port Authority and Franco Cobas Gonzales, the Commodore of the Real Club Nautico of Vigo.

Nicolas Lunven ( Foncia) commented: “We have to get stuck right back in for the 2nd leg. As I had electric problems, my alarm did not work to wake me up on the delivery trip so I ended up having longer siestas than planned. My body clock does not work all that well. I am still pretty shattered but by tomorrow, I had better be feeling better. The stopover here is very short, really too short and especially for those skippers who do not have a shore crew support…”

Laurent Gouezigoux (( Boistech) said: “It’s a bit of a rush, but then we are all in the same situation” - “I got in at 2 am this morning and did not get much rest on the delivery down here. I was a bit stressed and worried about colliding with something when sleeping or having pilot troule like Christophe Lebas had which then sent him onto the rocks. I managed to get a few sisestas but then did not recover much because they were fretful naps. I am tied because you do not recover from such a difficult leg. It is really mentally exhausting. I am ready for the next stage and I think a second good nights sleep we will be there…it is not like we have any choice. You just have to get on with it and then we are all in the same situation, that is part of the game.”

Gérald Veniard ( Macif): “I have not recovered yet…” - “I really got no rest on the delivery trip as I was really worked up about not damaging my boat like I did in 2006 when I hit a fishing trawler. I was motoring at the time, like getting down here so I did not get much sleep and then on the last night of the race, the wind was strong too, so really I have had very little rest. We are all in the same situation with regards the start, so we have to make do.”

Nico Bérenger ( Koné Ascenseurs): “Sleep and eat, sleep and eat…” “Understandably I am a bit tired, but then I slept really well on the delivery trip down. We have the start tomorrow so must not loose any time and keep up the pace. I have not got any aches and pains, so that is good and am going to try and make the time to have a massage. Then it’s sleep and eat, sleep and eat. I have not looked at the weather yet, but from what I hear it should be a downwind spinnaker ride the whole way to the finish…”