La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro - The Magnificent Seven
by La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro 6 Sep 2018 19:39 BST
6 September 2018
After two legs of La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro, both almost equally rich in terms of the weather, only seven solo sailors are now within an hour of each other on the overall standings. The second leg between Saint-Brieuc and Muros de Noia upset the chances of some of the favourites who will have to do extremely well in the final two legs, as in the overall rankings, it is going to be extremely hard to make up such a gap.
History over the previous 48 editions has prove it is almost impossible to catch up an hour over two legs. That is certainly a huge blow for some of those who usually do well in the Figaro circuit like Alexis Loison (Custo Pol, 17th 1hr 50 mins 10 secs behind the leader), Erwan Tabarly (Armor Lux, 18th with a deficit of 2 hrs 8 minutes and 11 secs), Vincent Biarnes (Baie de Saint-Brieuc, 23rd 4 hrs and 51 minutes and 33 seconds off the pace), Frédéric Duthil (Technique Voile, 26th, 13 hrs 18 minutes and 1 second behind the leader) and Gildas Mahé (Breizh Cola, 13 hrs 42 mins and 34 secs of a deficit).
The top seven include Brit Alan Roberts (Seacat Services) who is now just over 49 minutes behind overall race leader Sebastien Simon. They are 1 Sébastien Simon (Bretagne CMB Performance) 6 d 0 hrs 4 minutes and 48 seconds total elapsed time 2 Xavier Macaire (Groupe SNEF) at 26'31 behind leader 3 Anthony Marchand (Groupe Royer – Secours Populaire) at 30'51 4 Thierry Chabagny (Gedimat) at 34'23 5 Charlie Dalin (Skipper Macif 2015) at 36'09 6 Eric Péron (Finistère Mer Vent) at 48'09 7 Alan Roberts (Seacat Services) at 49'13 A lot of what happened in this second leg was decided off the tip of Brittany. While Gildas Mahé made his getaway in light airs off Finistère, the skipper then took the option of going between Ushant and Molène. The tidal currents are stronger there but "In the Fromveur, the current is more powerful than in the Four Channel, but it is patchy. It takes time to get to it and it doesn't last as long. Getting out further south meant the others found more wind, so the gaps widened."
After almost 24 hours of racing at a snail's pace over the hundred miles or so from Saint Brieuc to the rocks off Portsall, the first key to the stage was when they rounded the bend near Le Conquet. Those who opted for the Four Channel (Chenal de Four) came out ahead but they also benefited from stronger winds, which meant they could speed down towards Spain at one knot more.
The outcome was tough for the others, as there was no way back and they could not make up for the ten miles or so they had lost. In fact, the reverse was true. In the Bay of Biscay, there were two clear groups and those who attempted to get back east failed again and were punished a second time. All they could do was sail as best they could in the NE'ly wind, which reached 35 knots at the halfway point.
The second key moment was around 0300hrs Tuesday morning when Sébastien Simon (Bretagne CMB Performance) made his getaway by gybing very early towards the tip of NW Spain. The young skipper was only joined by Éric Péron (Finistère Mer Vent) on this route which paid off, as the pair sailed one knot faster than those chasing them.
In the chasing group of around fifteen sailors, two rookies appreciated the strong winds and heavy seas, which became rougher as they approached the coast of Spain. Thomas Cardrin (Team Vendée Formation) and Loïs Berrehar (Bretagne CMB Espoir) held on tight over the continental shelf, as they were shaken around in a nasty swell and turbulent winds with a thundery low developing over Galicia.
The two leaders had to get back on track to round Cape Finisterre and ended up just four miles ahead of the chasing boats. It was still all to play for, as the wind dropped off as they made their way around the final bend to Muros de Noia. In the dark of night with squalls nearby and lightning in the distance, it was not easy to find the right route to avoid the wind shadow of the cliffs. Several sailors had to take a long and winding road to avoid the traps in the calms off Louro.
This gave Xavier Macaire (Groupe SNEF) an opportunity to get back on the heels of Éric Péron and even to overtake him in the final miles. As for Sébastien Simon, his lead was wide enough to finish the match in style, 19 minutes and 57 seconds ahead of the runner-up in this leg, which allowed him to take the lead overall. As for the two rookies, they took ninth (Thomas Cardrin) and eleventh place (Loïs Berrehar) in Spain, so made it to the top fifteen overall. That is something which has not happened for a long time in the Solitaire URGO Le Figaro. But there are still two more legs to go.
Nathalie Criou (Richmond Yacht Club Foundation) crossed the finish line off the RCN Portosin in a brisk 20-25kts breeze in the early evening on the Ria Muros Noia to finish 36th of the 36 solo skippers who started on Sunday from Saint Brieuc. Looking exhausted but satisfied to have completed the 515 nautical miles Stage 2 after she had to abandon Stage 1 because the prevailing lights winds meant she effectively ran out of recovery and prep time before the next stage. The 44 year old part time amateur solo racer technolgy entrepreneur - who catches up with work on her free moments even on the short stopovers, did her first La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro last year to mark her personal milestone of ten years free of cancer. She crossed the finish line at 20:09.21hrs local time (UTC+2hrs) at 16 hours and 03 minutes and 26 seconds behind the fastest time for the stage set by Sébastien Simon.
Criou said, "I am exhausted. I feel like I am one hundred years old. It was very windy, very wet, very difficult to sleep. With the kite up the pilot had a lot of trouble. So it was either speed with the kite for me or take the kite down. I made it. That was important to me. This leg was a lot harder because it was either very technical because you had to play in the rocks and tide. But the hardest but wa just coming in to the finish here. You keep thinking you are nearly there and then you are not really ten miles out but still three hours out because of the wind on the nose. And I was not planning on the 30kts I got there at the corner, the forecast was saying 14kts-15kts so I had the wrong headsail up and I took the worst possible reef in the fastest possible time in my whole life. That was just at Cape Finisterre, it went fromm 18kts to 40kts, it was crazy. I feel great. This is great to be here. I never feel lonely at sea. I feel at peace. This was tougher than any of the legs last year."
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Update from Tom Dolan Racing
Irish solo sailor Tom Dolan will begin the third leg of the Solitaire du Figaro race buoyed by his second stage performance in which he was the fourth rookie to cross the finish line.
Dolan, 30, from Kells in County Meath, finished 25th in the 520-mile leg from St Brieuc in France through the Bay of Biscay to Spain's Ria de Muros-Noia.
However he finished just outside the podium spots among the fleet of first-timers taking on the iconic four-stage singlehanded race.
After the disappointment of the first leg, from which Dolan was forced to retire when a key piece of his rigging broke, he displayed trademark speed in Leg 2.
The sailor the French press dubbed 'L'Irlandais Volant' – the Flying Irishman – started strongly in the front group as the fleet raced west to the first turning mark at Ushant on the northwest tip of Brittany.
However a decision not to sail through Chenal du Four – a narrow pass to the south-east of Ushant – cost Dolan and he was relegated down the fleet as the race south through Biscay started.
Dolan kept pace but was unable to reel in the frontrunners who profited from stronger breeze, crossing the finish line after two days, 17 hours, 25 minutes and 10 seconds at sea.
Despite the tactical slip-up, Dolan said he was pleased with his speed in Leg 2 – and that he is now itching to get going in Leg 3, starting tomorrow (Saturday).
"I'm a bit disappointed with my Leg 2 result but really happy with how I sailed," Dolan said.
"The whole leg revolved around tactics at Ushant. My weather routing said to stay west but those that hugged the coast profited.
"It's one of those things. I never thought there would be so much difference at the finish but it ended up being a few hours, which in the Figaro is huge.
"Apart from that one mistake I was doing really well and my speed was good. Downwind I was fast and I pulled off a couple of gybes in the strong winds.
"It's a pity about the result because everything else was really positive. If I'd have followed the guys I was with into the Chenal du Four I'd have finished with them."
Leg three, a 440-mile sprint north to Saint Gilles Croix de Vie, begins at 2pm local time on Saturday.
"Since finishing I've been trying to sleep as much as possible to recharge my batteries, because leg three starts pretty quickly," Dolan added.
"The boat's ready to go, so it's just a case of resting and having a look at the weather. It looks like the leg will be all upwind so it will be really tactical and complicated."