La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro Stage 2 - High Stakes First Night
by La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro 2 Sep 2018 20:45 BST
2 September 2018
Start of La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro Stage 2 © Alexis Courcoux
The sailing sons of the Bay of Saint Brieuc made their legions of families, friends and supporters as proud as they could be when the 49th La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro was hosted for the first time by the enclave of offshore-sailing mad Armor coast towns and villages, for whom local ace Yann Eliès is their most successful Briochian progeny.
Just as Anthony Marchand became quite the local hero when he won Stage 1 into home waters, his first leg win in eight attempts, so this afternoon Eliès 44-years-old contemporary Vincent Biarnes, lead the 36 strong fleet out of his home waters, steering his Figaro 2 which is appropriately named Baie de Saint Brieuc because he is supported by the local 'agglomeration'.
On his ninth La Solitaire, under sunny skies and in a light NE'ly breeze, Biarnes passed the Radio France Buoy first in front of a very substantial spectator fleet, at the very outset of a 520 nautical miles Stage 2 across the Bay of Biscay to Ria de Muros-Noia.
But glory may only be fleeting on a 'rich get richer' course which promises a tactical, light winds 'cat and mouse' game, sniggling westwards overnight along the rocky, tidal north Brittany coast, before turning Monday morning at Ushant for a rapid, downwind sprint across Biscay in a building NE'ly breeze.
Although there are just over six minutes separating the top five on elapsed time, and 11 minutes the top 10, such deltas may be ephemeral given the light airs predicted – between four and nine knots – and up to two knots of tidal current.
Drama for Mulloy Britons Alan Roberts (Seacat Services) and Hugh Brayshaw (KAMAT), fifth and seventh after Stage 1, both made solid, accomplished starts to their second stages. Roberts rounded the Radio France mark in 11th – not quite able to replicate his success of a week ago in Le Havre which earned him an €800 winning bounty – but, critically, he was showing his downwind, light to moderate airs prowess by climbing through the fleet to eighth.
Ireland's Rookie Joan Mulloy (Taste the Atlantic-A Seafood Journey) suffered a mainsail halyard problem only minutes into the race which saw her mainsail dropped to the deck as the 35 other Figaro one design yachts headed off upwind and left her in their wake. She had to immediately make for the designated 'start port' Saint Quai-Portrieux where her shore crew managed an F1 style pit stop, taking just 17 minutes to fit a second main halyard allowing her to follow the strict race rules. She then had to motor back to the point where she switched on her engine before sailing the full, preliminary circuit before chasing the fleet westwards towards Galicia.
"She was in good shape when she left. She was just 'right let's get this done and get going' and when she left she was in a good mindset, not down or fatalistic," recalled Irish veteran Marcus Hutchinson who is helping Mulloy on her first La Solitaire.
As he left the dock in Saint Brieuc this morning Alexis Loison, skipper of Custo Pol and winner of the Solo Normandie this year, tipped as a podium contender for this race, smiled, "This is going to be a game of hide and seek. With the latest weather files and an appropriate routing updated he explained the dilemmas on the leg out to the western point of Brittany. The question is whether to go inshore where there is two knots less current or offshore where there should be more, steadier breeze. It will be important to keep a very close eye on the other guys. Sometimes it is deceiving, there can appear more little waves offshore and smoother water inshore but that does not tell the story. It is not necessarily just the case to stay inshore in the lighter winds."
It will be a risky exit out of the Cannel, requiring patience and focus. At dusk the tide changes and progress to Perros Guirrec and the island of Batz might be painful. As Météo Consult's Pascal Scaviner said yesterday during the skippers briefing through the first 12 hours of the race should see winds between four and nine knots. At four knots downwind the Figaro 2 is hardly moving, but at nine knots downwind they can make six knots. Advising four times podium finisher Charlie Dalin (Skipper Macif 2015) this morning, Franck Cammas – overall winner in 1997 – explained his role and his advice, "In essence two heads are better than one but he is the one who is out there on the boat himself and makes the decisions as he goes. So what I am trying to do is give him some simple rules so that he has the strategic priorities in his mind. The differences between inshore and offshore can be vital. We have seen some local gusts patterns on the files and they may be interesting. There is a thermal depression over Brittany which might accelerate the breeze down the valley. But all night it will be light. We have to hope they won't have to anchor because then it becomes a lottery."
It promises to be a long, very intense high-stakes night with no sleep expected until the turn south at Ushant. Trimming, steering and constantly monitoring AIS, seeing the shape and fine detail of the fleet, who is doing what and why. "It's like a computer game." Said Alan Roberts of the constant need to watch the computer programme.
There will be breaks, different courses and strategies before Ushant where the skippers can go through the channel or west, outside. West is nearly always best, getting into the stronger breeze first but means more miles sailed.
"It's a mountain stage" says Loison. Some observers expect big gains for the leaders, many – such as Erwan Tabarly on his 16th Solitaire - have raced this stretch of coast dozens of times. And this time it will be hard for the middle order racers to keep up. Biscay, most say, will be 'rich get richer' in 20-25kts of downwind surfing towards Spain.
The first boats into Galicia are expected early Wednesday morning according to most recent weather routing.
Back in the fleet after having to abandon on the first leg, Briton Nick Cherry (Redshift) walks the first stage of the course out to the point of Brittany and Ushant, "There will be light patches as we sail along the north coast of France, it does not look too complicated. We head NW out of the bay for 12 or 15 miles and then there are a couple of turning marks and the tide turns against us at about 730pm and then we will be VMG running down the coast and balancing less wind inshore with better current to start and then the tide will turn and we will head offshore and then as we turn around Ushant there is an option to go inside and get better current or if it is later then we might have to go outside, depending on how much progress we make tonight."
"With this you have to have a game plan and know when the tide turns, you can't always follow. There will be splits and gains and losses here and there. In Biscay it makes sense to stay with the fleet but early on it is just about tactical nous and just shniggling along." "There are some pretty vicious rocks around. So there will not be much sleeping tonight."
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