The 442 mile second leg of the Solitaire du Figaro started in Gijon, Spain yesterday for the 36 single-handed skippers. It was a tricky start with 12-knots from the northwest. Rookie Henry Bomby (Artemis 37) had the best start in the Artemis team, getting a clear start in the centre of the line, while Sam Goodchild (Artemis 23) was recalled and rookie Nick Cherry (Artemis 77) made contact with stage 1 leg winner Yann Elies (Groupe Queguiner/Journal de Enterprises) moments before the start and they both subsequently missed the start line.
After what has been described as a conservative start in Paimpol by many, the skippers were much more fired up for the leg two start with many being bang on the line at the start, although four skippers were called over the line. The line had a 10-15% bias at the buoy end and skippers favoured it, making it a crowded place to be. Moments before the start Cherry realised he was going to be over the line and stalled only to make contact with Yann Eliès, and they both then sailed past the buoy as the starting gun was fired. Both Cherry and Eliès had to turn back to cross the line, whilst Goodchild was recalled as he was over.
Meanwhile rookie Bomby was making the most of the clear air he was rewarded with after starting in the middle of the line and was in the top ten rounding the first mark. As in leg one, Gildas Morvan had an excellent start and led the fleet around the inshore course and out into the Bay of Biscay. By the time the fleet had raced the short inshore course Goodchild had climbed up to 15th with rookie Cherry in 20th and fellow rookie Bomby in 25th as they reached out into the Bay of Biscay with all 36 skippers passing the Radio France buoy within three minutes of each other.
“The start is very important weather wise,” explained Bomby before the start, “There’s a ridge from then through until midnight, which will be the make, or break of the leg, the biggest gains and losses will be made right at the beginning.” After reaching this ridge the skippers hoisted their spinnakers last night as the speedometer hit double digits and started the long drag race towards Brest. Overnight Bomby slipped to 36th place, 26 miles behind the leader: “Henry Bomby reported autopilot problems to the race management last night saying he lost two hours to this. All our boats carry a spare autopilot for emergency situations so it’s not clear what the problems were that he encountered. He now needs to remain focused and try to close the distance on the rest of the fleet,” reported John Thorn.
From the start the first 24 hours were crucial to stay in touch with the frontrunners, however as Goodchild explained before the start yesterday the the fleet could use the testing tidal waters of the Raz de Sein to their advantage: “We should reach the Raz de Seine by Monday night or early Tuesday morning,” said Goodchild, “The current is favourable until about 8 o’clock in the morning, so the chances are if we are really quick the fleet will compress and if we are really slow there will probably be an expansion in the fleet.”
This morning Cherry is in 23rd (9.5nm behind the leader), Goodchild 26th (+ 11.8nm) with Bomby in 36th (+ 28.5nm) with the fleet being led by Nicolas Lunvern (Generali) and Gildas Morvan (Circle Vert) in 2nd just 1.8nm ahead of Jean-Pierre Nicol (Bernard Controls). Stage 1 winner Yann Eliès is currently lying in 5th only 3.8nm behind the leader.
The fleet are expected to reach the Raz de Sein later tonight or early Tuesday morning and are expecting some big waves in this narrow channel. From there it is a sprint down the coast to Saint Gilles Croix de Vie and the finish line.
From : Artemis Offshore Academy
Credit : A.Courcoux
After what has been described as a conservative start in Paimpol by many, the skippers were much more fired up for the leg two start with many being bang on the line at the start, although four skippers were called over the line. The line had a 10-15% bias at the buoy end and skippers favoured it, making it a crowded place to be. Moments before the start Cherry realised he was going to be over the line and stalled only to make contact with Yann Eliès, and they both then sailed past the buoy as the starting gun was fired. Both Cherry and Eliès had to turn back to cross the line, whilst Goodchild was recalled as he was over.
Meanwhile rookie Bomby was making the most of the clear air he was rewarded with after starting in the middle of the line and was in the top ten rounding the first mark. As in leg one, Gildas Morvan had an excellent start and led the fleet around the inshore course and out into the Bay of Biscay. By the time the fleet had raced the short inshore course Goodchild had climbed up to 15th with rookie Cherry in 20th and fellow rookie Bomby in 25th as they reached out into the Bay of Biscay with all 36 skippers passing the Radio France buoy within three minutes of each other.
“The start is very important weather wise,” explained Bomby before the start, “There’s a ridge from then through until midnight, which will be the make, or break of the leg, the biggest gains and losses will be made right at the beginning.” After reaching this ridge the skippers hoisted their spinnakers last night as the speedometer hit double digits and started the long drag race towards Brest. Overnight Bomby slipped to 36th place, 26 miles behind the leader: “Henry Bomby reported autopilot problems to the race management last night saying he lost two hours to this. All our boats carry a spare autopilot for emergency situations so it’s not clear what the problems were that he encountered. He now needs to remain focused and try to close the distance on the rest of the fleet,” reported John Thorn.
From the start the first 24 hours were crucial to stay in touch with the frontrunners, however as Goodchild explained before the start yesterday the the fleet could use the testing tidal waters of the Raz de Sein to their advantage: “We should reach the Raz de Seine by Monday night or early Tuesday morning,” said Goodchild, “The current is favourable until about 8 o’clock in the morning, so the chances are if we are really quick the fleet will compress and if we are really slow there will probably be an expansion in the fleet.”
This morning Cherry is in 23rd (9.5nm behind the leader), Goodchild 26th (+ 11.8nm) with Bomby in 36th (+ 28.5nm) with the fleet being led by Nicolas Lunvern (Generali) and Gildas Morvan (Circle Vert) in 2nd just 1.8nm ahead of Jean-Pierre Nicol (Bernard Controls). Stage 1 winner Yann Eliès is currently lying in 5th only 3.8nm behind the leader.
The fleet are expected to reach the Raz de Sein later tonight or early Tuesday morning and are expecting some big waves in this narrow channel. From there it is a sprint down the coast to Saint Gilles Croix de Vie and the finish line.
From : Artemis Offshore Academy
