Solitaire du Figaro leg one report

Top 30 boats finish into Ouistreham within 60 minutes of leader

So Fabien Delahaye and his Port Caen Ouistreham have claimed the first leg of La Solitaire du Figaro between Perros-Guirec and Caen. Cercle Vert veteran skipper Gildas Morvan  finished just behind to take the second place with Jean Pierre Nicol on Bernard Controls coming home third. Fifth overall Xavier Macaire on Starter Active Bridge claimed the first rookie ('bizuth') title barely a minute ahead of top Brit Phil Sharp on Spirit of Independence, who finished 7th overall (see video below), just 15 minutes and 4 seconds behind the leader. The first 30 skippers crossed the finish line within 60 minutes of the leader.

After the challenge trip along the south coast of the UK on Monday, the deciding moment of the first leg occurred overnight on Monday in the light conditions and currents to the east the Cherbourg peninsula.

Fabien Delahaye commented: "This is the first time I have won a leg and to top it off I do it at home! Last night was key for the race. You really had to keep on top of things and position yourself well and I just grabbed any opportunity that came my way. I managed to position myself well throughout the race, except maybe when passing Portland Bill, which I found difficult. Then I managed to climb back up to the leading pack on the return Channel crossing with Gildas Morvan and then built my lead after the Cussy cardinal mark. When everyone had to anchor this morning to avoid going backwards in the current I was in 48 metres of water, so I just had to fight it out and look for the puffs of wind. This is probably played in my favour as I managed to get away, so I would not say that it was just a matter of knowing my home waters...”

Second placed Gildas Morvan, who finished 11 minutes and 9 seconds behind the leader said: "The whole first leg has been really quite tough because although we had a nice first night sailing under spinnaker to cross the Channel, it has been nothing but easy. From Hands Deep [the mark off Plymouth] the wind would just come and go and then it just got really soft. It was a matter of constantly having to gybe and do manoeuvres. The worst bit was last night as we were crossing the Channel and the wind just completely dropped and went all over the place. I tried to hang on with the spinnaker up because the minute you go and anchor it takes forever to get started again. I then hooked on to a thread of breeze that got me off on the approach to Cussy, the same one Fabien grabbed on to and then the tide was favourable and the wind picked up. If you look at the time deficit I have on the winner it is not all that much, but then each and every minute counts!”

Jean-Pierre Nicol who finished third said: "What a leg! There were so many pitfalls and you just had to be constantly on guard to not get caught out. When you look at the course on paper it seems easy, but then doing it is something else. I am shattered and found it so hard to mange my sleep. It was snakes and ladders, each time I nodded off I would loose ground, so would have to work my way back up and fight against the exhaustion. It has not been the easiest way of getting in to the race, but then last night everything just went like a dream...I managed to get away whilst everyone else was just stuck. I have managed to limit the time deficit on the leader by just a few minutes so am really happy.”

Top rookie, former leading Mini sailor Xavier Macaire said: “I had a great climb up the fleet last night which all started from the Fairway mark. I did some good gybes and I must say that Phil Sharp set the bar very high for the rookie rankings. I had to get after him. I did have to anchor last night, but it just would not hold, so just fought against drifting too much. Finishing in this position is just fantastic and I am so pleased. I had set myself the target of getting to be among the top three in the rookie ranking, so that is a good start. This is just an amazing event with 47 great sailors, wonderful organisation and to have the French naval ship, PSP Cormorant with us, is a real honour.”

Phil Sharp said: “I’m feeling great, It’s kind of incredible really, the whole race, I didn’t expect to be so near the front and tussling with some of these top guys. I’ve learnt so much., it’s been incredible excitement all the way through. I’m so pleased to have got my first decent Figaro result. Top 10 was way above my expectations you know. Consistency is the name of the game but it’s always great to have one result. It’s going to be hard to keep getting top ten’s now!”

DMS skipper Conrad Humphreys finished in 22nd place, 45 minutes behind the leader. The turning tide and dropping breeze made it a real struggle for the second half of the fleet. Nigel King sailing on E-Line Orthodontics finished in 39th at 17:09:28, while Artemis Offshore Academy scholarship winner Sam Goodchild crossed the line at 18:36:47 in 45th place.

Conrad Humphreys said: “It was an incredible race, it had everything in it, absolutely everything, from calms to some good wind, lots of sail changes and the fleet were so close all the time. I don’t think the first twenty boats were ever more than three miles apart. I didn’t sleep very much this race and I think it caught up with me on the last day. It’s difficult to get into a routine in this race and I think for the next leg I need to be a little more disciplined about my sleep.”

Leg two of La Solitaire du Figaro sets sail from Caen bound for Dun Laoghaire this Sunday (7 August).

Results: