Return journey

In the Mini's Les Sables-Azores-Les Sables Aymeric Chappellier and Justine Mettraux lead proto and series classes after leg one

Making the mistake of finishing while the Olympic Games were going on - the first boats racing leg one of the Mini class' singlehanded Les Sables-Azores-Les Sables, reached Horta last Tuesday.

Leg one honours in the Proto class went to La Rochelle sailor Aymeric Chappellier and his La Tortue de l’Aquarium La Rochelle, which crossed the line at 19:10:23 UTC after an elapsed time at sea of 9 days 8 hours 8 minutes and 23 seconds or an average speed of 5.73 knots.

Chappellier pulled into the lead a day out of Horta by approaching from the north, staying in the breeze as those to the south of him were caught in lighter breeze. On his arrival Chappellier was received by the Mayor of Horta, Juan Castro and presented with a bottle of champagne.

Showing the international mix of the Mini class these days, Chappellier was followed into Horta by Italian Giancarlo Pedote on Prysmian at 22:31:15 with Czech sailor Milan Kolacek on Follow Me completing the podium at 05:19:31 the following morning. Kolacek had been without a radio with which to receive weather reports since the second day at sea.

In the Series class it was Swiss sailor Justine Mettraux, the only woman in the fleet, who won the class just over a day after the first Proto arrival aboard TeamWork in a time of 10 days, 10 hours and 46 minutes.

Mettraux chose a northerly route out of the Bay of Biscay but started to follow the great circle from there once her SSB radio packed up. Some met information was relayed to her by VHF by fellow competitor Ian Lipinski. Into the lead, TeamWork extended by up to 35 miles although this gap was reduced as the boats closed on the finish line.

While with no information she was worried about her position, ultimately Mettraux arrived a comfortable 4 hours and 18 minutes ahead of Ameyric Belloir on Tout le monde contre le Cancer, second in the series class.

"I'm obviously very happy," said Mettraux. "I had fun during the race, and I managed to prevent fatigue. The last 24 hours were the hardest. The sea was very bad, there were squalls and we had to fight to reach Horta."

The Artemis Offshore Academy's Becky Scott was forced to pull out 24 hours into the race with a broken autopilot. She contemplated returning to Les Sables d'Olonne and restarting but discounted this. “It was the right decision for me, but it is still very disappointing," she said. "I would have had 11 days in which to complete the leg and providing I had no further problems, would have given me two days rest before the start of Leg 2. It would have been difficult for me to get to the Azores and then be in a fit state to start the second leg.”

After a few days to regain their strength and catch up on their sleep, the start of the return leg to Les Sables d'Olonne takes place today.

With a depression to their north, the return journey looks set to be a fast one in strong following southwesterlies.

Leg 1 results: