Into the second day of the final leg of La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec and the 33 remaining solo skippers are pressing hard as they climb north along the Brittany coast. But most are trying to stick to a regime which maximises rest in the 15 to 20kts breezes as they seek to bank rest ahead of their appointment with a gnarly looking front which they will have to deal with off the Dorset coast.
There has been nothing to choose between the leading five skippers. Alexis Loison (GROUPE REEL) – who was denied victory on Stage 1 after leading until the final hours – has a narrow lead this afternoon but it is a few hundred metres ahead of Basile Bourgnon (Edenred) and Gaston Morvan (Région Bretagne-CMB Performance). Ireland’s Tom Dolan (Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan) who leads the event overall is fourth hard on the heels of Morvan his nearest title rival.
Since the start out of Royan on Sunday afternoon three skippers have retired. Vendée Globe finisher Stéphane le Diraison (Flexirub), Anthony Quentin (JPS Contrôle) both late yesterday afternoon and this morning Lomano Takasi (Réauté Chocolat).
Anyone who has raced an out and back marathon will appreciate the added mental pain of passing the finish line off La Turballe today which the fleet will not see again until Thursday, after another 550 miles of hard, hard racing.
Spain’s Pep Costa (VSF Sports) is nursing a damaged bowsprit but is lying seventh this afternoon whilst Germany’s Sanni Beucke (This Race is Female) is 25th evens with 26th placed Swiss rookie Annaëlle Pattsuch (Nemo).
Change of course In view of the tough weather conditions forecast in the English Channel the Race Director and OC Sport Pen Duick have decided this afternoon to modify the course. A waypoint by Portland Bill lighthouse has been added to ensure the safety of the sailors without altering or shortening the course.
"The addition of this waypoint allows us to keep away from Shambles Bank where part of the fleet would have passed, according to the routing, in a boat-breaking sea with a front passage potentially accompanied by gusts of more than 40 knots and 4 knots of current against the wind", explains Yann Chateau, Race Director. The modified course will therefore take the skippers to a mark at Portland Bill, which will allow the sailors to avoid the strongest currents, before going back to Skerries Bank, which they will leave to port.”
They said: Basile Bourgnon (EDENRED): " It's good to be correctly positioned, but we will have to save our stamina for sailing in the Channel. The idea is not to arrive up there not too burnt out. Upwind is the best point of sail for sleeping. The fleet is quite tight on this straight since since leaving the Gironde. The gaps are not huge yet. It's cold and wet, we should have that until the end."