Yann Elies penalised two hours

Second placed Solitaire du Figaro skippers plummets from second to 19th

The Jury met today in Brest to discuss the protest against Yann Eliès, who was forced to use his engine during the first leg to get off after going aground. Eliès, skipper ofGenerali Europ Assistance, was given a two hours penalty and as a consequence he falls from second to 19th place. 

Eliès received a 30 minute penalty for breaking the engine seal plus an additional one and a half hours for infringing the propulsion rule. Going aground on the beach at Primel has cost the skipper from Saint-Brieuc dearly: he drops from second place, 51 minutes and 58 seconds behind leader BritAir skipper Armel le Cleac’h to 19th in the overall combined elapsed time results after two legs.

“The penalty was not easy to accept at first," said Eliès. "Now, in retrospective I believe it is a good decision. You can’t let a skipper who used his engine win a race as important as the Solitaire du Figaro. It’s a question of fair play and image, and I’m one of the strongest believer in this concept. I’ve got 48 hours to try and recover, get mentally ready to go on racing. I wish to do something good, why not winning a leg to finish my Solitaire with my pride intact?”

Jean-Bertrand Mothes Massé, President of the Jury added: “Despite considering that Yann has made a serious mistake for a professional sailor going aground, the Jury is also convinced that he acted with seamanship, using his skills to save his boat. Moreover he did not ask for outside assistance. We then decided to increase the penalty established by the class and the racing rules.”

As a result the leader Armel Le Cléac’h now holds a 13 minute lead on second placed François Gabart on Skipper Macif 2010 who is 1 hour 4 minutes behind him and Thomas Rouxel of Crédit Mutuel de Bretagne who now is third 1 hour 31 minutes from Le Cléac’h.

During today’s meeting the Jury also gave a 20 minute penalty to Sébastien Josse onVendée for breaking his engine seal following some issues recharging his batteries. This decision, in fact, has no direct consequence on Josse’s general ranking: he still occupies 34th position 5 hour 56 minutes behind the leader.