Solitaire du Figaro: Upwind to Pointe de Penmarch

Fabien Delahaye into the lead as Sam Goodchild hangs in there

At the latest sched the 36 Figaros are on the wind heading for Pointe de Penmarche and as a result the lead is swapping around with Fabien Delahaye on Skipper MACIF 2012 in front at the latest sched while Vendee skipper Morgan Lagraviere leading at the first sched at 0248 UTC.

Chart above courtesy of Expedition/Tasman Bay Navigation Systems and GRIB (European model) from PredictWind

Positions at 0548 UTC

Since starting from St Gilles Croix de Vie yesterday, the Solitaire du Figaro fleet has been heading up the Brittany coast. A significant moment occurred mid-evening UTC last night when the fleet split around Belle Ile, a decision which the skippers will have made prior to the leaving.

The lead group passed through the Golfe de Quiberon between Belle Ile and La Trinite, with Generali skipper Nicolas Lunven out in front, followed by leg 2 winner Gildas Morvan on Cercle Vert and Morgan Lagraviere on Vendee. However a few significant players went outside of Belle Ile including ex-Banque Populaire crewman Thierry Chabagny on Gedimat and Erwan Tabarly on Nacarat but en route to Belle Ile they lost out greatly typically sailing a knot slower than the more easterly group. As a result Chabagny dropped to 24th and Tabarly to 20th more than 2 miles off the lead.

Since then the boats en masse have headed into the Bay off Concarneau close to the Figaro stronghold of Port la Foret. En route there Portugese sailor Francisco Lobato on ROFF attempted a flier, the only boat to sail inside Ile de Groix off Lorient. The group that left Belle Ile to starboard managed to regain some ground as the leaders had to tack as their approached Ile de Groix.

This morning the fleet has left Les Glenans to port and, with the wind from the west, has been on the wind as the boats head west towards Point de Penmarche. There seems to be two schools of thought here - a group is heading offshore to the south, led by Gildas Morvan but with Adrien Hardy on AGIR Recouvrement in hot pursuit, while the leaders are short tacking along the coast, led by Fabien Delahaye, but closely followed by Nicolas Lunven, Morgan Lagraviere and Banque Populaire (Figaro) ladyskipper Jeanne Gregoire, currently holding third. Overall race leader Yann Elies on Groupe Queguiner/Journal des Entreprises remains in the mix, holding 7th place.

Once around Point de Penmarche the boats will be able to crack off for the next hurdles of the course, the Raz du Seine and the Chenal du Four.

Generali's Nicolas Lunven reported earlier this morning: "The race start was in pretty nice conditions. I chose to stay inside at Belle-Ile. I think that was pretty good. But for the last half an hour the wind has completely died and you have to fight to keep the boat boat going. I'm alongside with Morgan, who is 100 metres away. Before leaving I had a slight preference to pass inside of Belle Isle leaving the final decision until I was out on the water but boats around me did the same thing."

Gildas Morvan on Cercle Vert said: "It is not easy - we had steady wind until about Belle Ile but from Belle-Ile the wind dropped and coming into Les Glenans it has died completely. We're advancing at two knots. It's very cloudy. The sea is flat, it's not too bad, but it is somewhat random. We can't sleep at the moment, you need to concentrate keep going in the light winds. We are fighting with four boats. We try to maintain our speed and hang on to stay in the game."

Among the Brits, after his strong start yesterday lying second as the boats left St Gilles Croix de Vie, the Artemis Offshore Academy's Sam Goodchild has been having a good race, holding fourth all the way towards Concarneau, however here he appears to have gone too far inshore while the leaders were mid-way between the coast and Les Glenans, dropping him from 6th to 13th. Team mate Henry Bomby is also having a good race holding 18th place following a similar route to Bomby, while Nick Cherry has lost out by going outside at Belle Ile.