The Solitaire du Figaro fleet set off from Concarneau (Finistère) for the final leg of the race. Under an overwhelming heat and in very light airs (less than 4 knots). After an initial start at around 14:24 and followed by a general reminder, it took almost an hour (the wind had dropped off) for the race to get underway. On the programme, a 505 mile course towards Dieppe.
At 15:07 finally, the solo sailors set off. Two bundles of boats then broke away. One on the right led by Sébastien Simon (Bretagne Crédit Mutuel Performance) and Jérémie Beyou (Charal), and the other on the left by Vincent Biarnès (Guyot Environnement). At the clearing buoy, these three boats were in the lead, along with Pierre Quiroga (Skipper Espoir CEM-CS), closely followed by Nicolas Lunven (Generali). On a single tack, the Figaro Bénéteau 2 joined the "Jaune de Glénan" cardinal East, Radio France buoy, 10 miles away at the speed of a snail.
A real stage in La Solitaire which is long, demanding, tactical and probably full of twists and turns. Between a course along the coast of Brittany, two crossings of the English Channel and 200 miles to run near the English coast, the dossier is complete and varied. That's all that Figaro sailors love! " It's a very complicated stage, especially at the start with very light wind." confided Nicolas Lunven (Generali) a few minutes before the departure of the Concarneau pontoons. At the head of the provisional general ranking with a 24 minute lead over Adrien Hardy, the skipper of Generali doesn't think he can say it so well. This final leg could well create some gaps and reserve some surprises in the final race along the Côte d'Albâtre!
And this first step is going to be difficult... Whilst the solo sailors left the port of Concarneau yesterday under the stroke of midday, they are still in Southern Brittany more than twelve hours later.
"It's true that the reality is not at all what we expected." explained Gildas Mahé on the VHF this morning. " The wind is really light and I almost got wet last night at the Cap Caval buoy. It's going to be a long time, but I'm glad I'm back in the game." Just like Alexis Loison (Custopol), who was called back yesterday at the start, the skipper of Action Against Hunger has stuck to the pack very well, even occupying the outposts this morning, just behind the Anthony Machand/Charlie Dalin tandem.
