After a relatively straightforward climb up the Brittany coast the solo racers on the final stage of the 55th La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec are getting into the most difficult part of the monster 710 nautical miles stage from Royan to La Turballe, an express passage across the English Channel to Portland Bill off the Dorset coast and back to Skerries off Dartmouth before heading south to the finish line where the leaders should arrive in the very small hours of Thursday.
There are now 31 skippers left racing following the retirements this morning of Spain’s young Pep Costa (VSF Sports) who suffered damage to his bowsprit on Monday morning and young Swiss rookie Anaëlle Pattusch (NEMO) who decided prudently is too far into the red in terms of energy after a brutal first leg when her autopilot failed and she spent days hand steering into Gijón.
Since passing through the Intermediate Sprint time bonus line this morning four skippers have eased clear at the top of the fleet. Basile Bourgnon won the Intermediate Sprint and the five-minute bonus. Loïs Berrehar and Gaston Morvan, 2nd and 3rd in the Intermediate Sprint, will benefit from bonuses of three minutes and one minute. These bonuses might prove decisive at the end of this stage in the pursuit of the overall 2024 title.
Ireland’s Tom Dolan (Smurfit Kappa – Kingspan), current overall leader in the general classification, was nine minutes behind Bourgnon and six minutes behind his nearest title challenger Morvan at this mark, but Dolan has slipped some miles this afternoon and is down to eighth at more than 10 miles behind Bourgnon. He started the leg with an advantage of 57 minutes.
The leaders were heading into the stormy conditions this afternoon already in 18 to 24 knots of wind and 1.5 to 2 metres of short waves. They are in for a very tough 24 hours.
"The grey sky on the horizon this afternoon marks the strengthening of the wind ahead of an active front that will pass quickly and should be quite strong through the early part of the evening until 11pm or midnight tonight ", explains Yann Chateau, Race Director who estimates that the first will pass the South Portland Bill mark around 7pm this evening. “Then it'll be time for a tack that should take them into Lyme Bay to go and find the wind shift to the right, before heading towards Skerries Bank and then heading south conditions roughly similar to those of the outward course that is to say 18 to 25 knots of wind".
The main focus of the afternoon has been looking after sails, switching down and making the best course "We saw some skippers switch from the big spinnaker to the small spinnaker. One competitor told us he tore his spinnaker earlier. It might be worth making sure to have a big spinnaker for the end of the course between the south of Brittany and La Turballe. The skippers will have to find that delicate balance between preserving the equipment and keeping as much speed as possible in this long stage towards the English coasts off Dorset and then Devon.", analysed the Race Director.
After this double express crossing of the Channel, the sailors should pass Ushant again around 1300hrs tomorrow before setting sail for La Turballe, where the first are expected between 0200hrs a 0400hrs early onThursday.
And right now it is impossible to know which sailor’s name will be engraved on the top trophy as winner of the 55th La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec.