Ireland - France: Solitaire du Figaro's fourth and final leg

17/08/2009

It came very close to running like clockwork in Dingle Bay, for the start of the fourth and final leg of this year's Solitaire du Figaro. The promised wind settled in briskly and even moderated to a more manageable 16 or 17 knots by the scheduled 1200 (local time) start, though the south-westerly direction kicked up enough of a sea to give the numerous spectator boats an authentic if slightly uncomfortable nautical experience.

Next mark - the Fastnet Rock
After a general recall at the first attempt, the 52 boat fleet got away cleanly at 1214 precisely, and are now flying down the Irish coast. Once away from the line, the best of the start seemed to go to Thierry Chabagny (Suzuki Automobiles) and Gildas Mahé (Banque Populaire) at the Committee Boat end, while at the pin Laurent Pellecuer (Arnolfini.fr) and Jean-Pierre Nicol (Gavottes) were quickest. The fleet then made off under full mainsail and genoa to the windward mark, the traditional Radio France buoy, three miles upwind. The fleet are now enjoying one of their few opportunities this series to break out the spinnakers and enjoy some downwind sailing along the coast and on to the Fastnet Rock.

Final Leg
At 511 miles the fourth Leg is the longest and the last of the series, and another classic mix of coastal and offshore sailing. After nearly three weeks of fantastically close racing, and the top fifteen skippers within one hour of accumulated time, there is everything still to play for, and the identity of this year’s champion will not be revealed until the very end.

Leg 3: Jérémie Beyou victorious again
Less than 10 miles from the finish line of the third Leg, the breeze in the bay died completely. It was to be six hours before enough breeze kicked in to propel the boats the final distance, by which time the view from the finish line was of a seemingly endless arc of navigation lights across the bay. Any one of 20 boats could have won it, but ultimately it was Jérémie Beyou (Bernard Paoli) who held his nerve and crossed first, for his second consecutive leg victory of this year’s edition of the race.

Source: lasolitaire.com

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