Drouglazet leads out of Santander

Leg two of the Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro gets underway

Following one general recall, the fleet of 44 Beneteau Figaro Solos finally crossed the start line of the second leg of La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro at 15h19 today. With roughly 10 knots of NNWerly breeze, the singlehanded sailors set sail from the northern Spanish port of Santander bound for the Beneteau stronghold of Saint Gilles Croix de Vie, via a turning mark off Belle Ile.

As is the custom, a short 4 mile long inshore course was set off Santander, before the competitors set off on the 314 mile leg north to Belle Ile. The boats set sail with the dramatic backdrop of the Palacio de la Magdalena dominating the cliffs overlooking the entrance to the Bay of Santander. Second time around there was just one individual recall for Vendee Globe skipper Jean-Pierre Dick on Virbac Paprec.

A small group consisting of Christopher Pratt ( Crédit Agricole), Frédéric Duthil ( Brossard), Nicolas Bérenger ( Koné Ascenseurs), Eric Drouglazet ( PIXmania.com) and Armel Le Cléac’h ( Brit Air) lead around the inshore race marks. Pratt rounded the first mark in the lead only to be beaten to the second mark by Duthil who sneaked around on the inside. At the third and last of the inshore marks, the Radio France buoy, Drouglazet had gained the lead followed by Armel Le Cléac’h and Christopher Pratt.

Drouglazet, back in the game having won in 2001 and currently lying 20th and 1h49m from the leader after one led (this race is scored on cumulative elapsed time), led the fleet en route for Belle Ile's Birvideaux lighthouse. “It great to leave in the lead with a clear breeze” enthused Drouglazet soon after the start, adding that tonight “we will have the wind straight on the nose for the most part”. So uncomfortable upwind conditions is on the cards for the first night at sea.

The unstable wind conditions, due to veer from northwest to north did not hamper Christopher Pratt’s start and continued progress with the leaders in the fleet. “I had a good start and am ready to fight. It was great to be in top five for the start. The wind was really unstable, and the course not that simple with only a few options for advantages, being on the right side of the course on the first leg really paid off as you had clean wind.” Now on course for the Birvideaux, Pratt adds that he is “close to Brit Air ) with 10 knots of unstable wind and always having to trim and can’t leave the helm for a minute.”

The strategic and tactical decisions lie ahead on the final approach to the Birvideaux, for now rest and a steady headway is the order of the day.

Prior to her departure Roxy skipper and only Brit in the race Sam Davies commented: “I have had lots of rest and looking forward to this leg because with Roxy we have to climb up the ranking a bit, and I like going upwind in light winds, and it’s an upwind light wind leg, so I am looking forward to playing with the little wind shifts we are going to have on this leg. The weather is not certain in terms of the forecast, so we are going to have to work with the weather as it evolves. I quite enjoy the legs where nothing is fixed and you have to think a bit about the tactics and the strategy. I think there will be a lot at play, especially at the Birvideaux there is going to be a lot of current, as we have the spring tides now, this could create some big gaps as we will have light winds when we round the mark and some could get to round with the current and others get stuck. Hope to get in to Saint Gilles on Tuesday night. Here I have had a lot of rest, so have not seen much of Santander, but it looks like a lovely town and I hope to come back again with La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro in the future.”

Positions at 1730:

Pos		Skipper	Boat	Latitude	Longitude	Crs	Spd	DTF/L
1		DUTHIL Frédéric	Brossard	43 35' 22' N	3 42' 18' W	34 °	6.2	307.9 nm
2		LE CLEAC'H Armel	Brit Air	43 35' 16' N	3 41' 52' W	32 °	6.1	0.2 nm
3		DROUGLAZET Eric	PIXmania.com	43 34' 98' N	3 41' 52' W	34 °	6.1	0.3 nm
4		ELIES Yann	Groupe Generali assurances	43 35' 04' N	3 42' 42' W	34 °	5.9	0.3 nm
5	B	PRATT Christopher	Espoir Crédit Agricole	43 35' 10' N	3 41' 64' W	37 °	5.8	0.4 nm
6		BERENGER Nicolas	KONE Ascenseurs	43 34' 80' N	3 42' 36' W	36 °	5.8	0.5 nm
7		EMIG Marc	A.ST Groupe	43 34' 74' N	3 42' 06' W	36 °	6	0.5 nm
8		GREGOIRE Jeanne	Banque Populaire	43 34' 74' N	3 42' 78' W	32 °	5.7	0.6 nm
9		PELLECUER Laurent	Cliptol Sport	43 34' 50' N	3 41' 58' W	34 °	6.2	0.7 nm
10	B	ISRAEL Erwan	Delta Dore	43 34' 56' N	3 41' 70' W	35 °	6	0.7 nm
11	B	TREUSSART Ronan	Groupe Céléos	43 34' 62' N	3 42' 24' W	35 °	5.9	0.7 nm
12		CAUDRELIER CHARLES	Bostik	43 34' 56' N	3 43' 02' W	28 °	5.6	0.8 nm
13		MORVAN Gildas	Cercle Vert	43 34' 56' N	3 43' 68' W	17 °	4.9	0.8 nm
14		de PAVANT Kito	Groupe Bel	43 34' 50' N	3 42' 12' W	34 °	5.8	0.8 nm
15		SVILARICH Etienne	Sogeti	43 34' 44' N	3 42' 24' W	36 °	5.9	0.8 nm
16		d'ALI Pietro	Nanni Diesel	43 34' 44' N	3 43' 44' W	23 °	4.9	0.9 nm
17		LE GAL Franck	Lenze	43 34' 32' N	3 41' 88' W	37 °	6.1	0.9 nm
18		MOUREN Jean-Paul	M@rseillEntreprises	43 34' 32' N	3 41' 70' W	36 °	6.2	0.9 nm
19	B	PERON Eric	Cigo	43 34' 44' N	3 42' 48' W	32 °	5.7	0.9 nm
20		DAVIES Samantha	Roxy	43 34' 38' N	3 42' 66' W	35 °	5.8	1 nm
21		VENIARD Gérald	Scutum	43 34' 32' N	3 44' 04' W	25 °	5.8	1 nm
22		WARDLEY Liz	Sojasun	43 34' 38' N	3 43' 50' W	26 °	5.5	1 nm
23		TRIPON Armel	Gedimat	43 34' 26' N	3 43' 44' W	30 °	5.9	1.1 nm
24	B	DOUGUET Corentin	E.Leclerc - Bouygues Télécom	43 34' 14' N	3 43' 38' W	25 °	5.3	1.2 nm
25	B	ROUXEL Thomas	Défi Santé Nutrition	43 34' 20' N	3 43' 86' W	22 °	5	1.2 nm
26	B	AUBERT Jérome	La Normandise	43 34' 02' N	3 43' 08' W	31 °	5.7	1.3 nm
27	B	LOISON Alexis	Région Basse-Normandie	43 34' 02' N	3 42' 24' W	36 °	5.9	1.3 nm
28	B	NAGY Robert	Theolia	43 34' 08' N	3 44' 22' W	28 °	5.8	1.3 nm
29	B	MAHE Gildas	Le Comptoir Immobilier	43 33' 90' N	3 42' 90' W	33 °	5.3	1.4 nm
30		VACHETTE Vincent	SCO Saveur et Vie	43 33' 78' N	3 42' 78' W	33 °	5.3	1.5 nm
31	B	LE MIERE Grégoire	Man Of All Seasons	43 33' 84' N	3 42' 48' W	36 °	5.7	1.5 nm
32		PELLET Jean-François	Lubexcel	43 33' 72' N	3 42' 54' W	36 °	5.8	1.6 nm
33		DEFERT Eric	Suzuki Autombiles	43 33' 60' N	3 44' 94' W	15 °	4.6	1.8 nm
34	B	LE BAUT Jimmy	Port-Olona	43 33' 48' N	3 42' 48' W	36 °	5.6	1.8 nm
35		TROUSSEL Nicolas	Financo	43 33' 72' N	3 46' 74' W	346 °	4.1	1.9 nm
36		CHABAGNY Thierry	Littoral	43 33' 72' N	3 48' 06' W	322 °	4.7	2 nm
37		LEBAS Christophe	Armor Lux	43 33' 54' N	3 46' 26' W	7 °	4.3	2 nm
38	B	DICK Jean-Pierre	Virbac-Paprec	43 33' 42' N	3 45' 84' W	7 °	4.1	2.1 nm
39	B	DA CRUZ Antonio Pedro	Baïko	43 33' 24' N	3 42' 66' W	36 °	5.5	2.1 nm
40	B	GOUEZIGOUX Laurent	Côtes d'Armor	43 32' 28' N	3 49' 56' W	323 °	4.1	3.5 nm
NL		KRAUSS Oliver	AXA Plaisance			°		nm
NL		TABARLY Erwan	Iceberg Finance			°		nm
NL		TOULORGE Alexandre	Starkey			°		nm
NL	B	SEGUIN Damien	AltéAd Region Pays de la Loire			°		nm