Celtic Sea conundrum

Several tactical options being employed by Figaro skippers on their run across to the Crosshaven finish of leg 1

Nicolas Berenger and his Koné Ascenseurs hold on to a narrow lead as the Figaro sailors face the last 140 miles from Caen to Crosshaven in Ireland. The leaders passed Lands End this afternoon to continue upwind in a northwesterly breeze across the Celtic Sea to the Bay of Cork. The latest ETA shows the boats arriving tomorrow between 0600-1000 GMT. Koné Ascenseurs has 142.6 miles to go to the finish, but 47 of the competitors are hot on his heels all within just 15 miles!

Two distinct groups formed this morning, the lead having swapped hands repeatedly over the last 24 hours for the 49 sailors competing in this year's La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro. An early morning shift created two groups, further to the southwest a runaway group of four comprised Gildas Morvan ( Cercle Vert), Eric Drouglazet ( Luisina), Marc Emig ( AS.T Group) and Gérald Veniard ( Scutum). “The aim is to go and catch the shift as the wind veers round to the WSW,” explained Morvan. “I do not understand why they (the other boats) went inshore against the current when a wind shift is due to come in from the left.” The second group, furthest north and closest to shore is spearheaded by Thierry Chabagny ( Brossard) who this morning used the current to work to his advantage on the final approach to Land's End, putting them in a good position for the final crossing.

The sailors now wait for the wind to back this evening, which will theoretically give the boats a chance to cross the Celtic Sea on one tack. On their way across the competitors are due to cross a ridge that will result in the wind dropping to 7-10 knots, for the first third of this last stretch of the race, while those behind should not slow down and have more breeze enabling them to close in on the leaders. These gaps should close up as the breeze builds in the early morning to 20 knots.

Only time will tell if the group to the southwest will make up ground on those further northeast. With the fleet spread out between Lands End and the Scilly Isles it will be interesting to see which has taken the best route across the Celtic Sea to converge on the finish. Anything can happen overnight as the playing field levels out.

The wind is forecast to increase to 20-25 knots, gusting 30 on Friday afternoon.

Words from the boats...

Jeanne Grégoire ( Banque Populaire)
“I was about to head off and do some sight seeing at the very pretty Scilly Isles when I see some boats with funny sails behind me, so I took my binoculars out to check and see Cercle Vert and Scutum, which was 11 miles ahead of me this morning! Maybe I will give the sightseeing a miss and make the most of the chance to keep ahead. It has really been all over the place, it is really incredible. I really did not expect them to be crossing back there and thought I would be seeing them get in to Crosshaven ahead. I thought the race was pretty much decided for the first 10.”

Michel Desjoyeaux ( Foncia)
“I have never seen a race with so many changes and new leaders. It is really interesting! I am not always in on the good action, but then not coming out all that badly. There is one part of the fleet that has gone towards the Scilly Isles. We are level with the Scilly’s and have just headed north. I have quite a lot of the fleet downwind of me close to Land’s End. I am tack on tack with Marc Lepesqueux and there is action, so not bored! I managed to sleep a bit between Start Point and Eddystone where I could just put the autopilot on.”

Grégoire Le Mière ( Basse Normandie/OTCex Group)
“Last year I was at the bottom of the rankings and now I am finally among the top 20 and really happy. With me there is Loison, Rouxel and ahead Drouguet and downwind Jeanne Gregoire and Vincent Biarnes. I am heading into the Scilly Channel for a direct route and all is fine on board. I had two good naps this morning and managed to recover a bit after Hand Deeps.”

Gildas Morvan ( Cercle Vert)
“The wind has increased as forecast to between 15 and 20 knots from the NNW. The sun is out and we some nice waves with the current against us. The aim is to go and catch the wind as it veers round to the WSW. There are two or three boats behind…I can’t see those closer to shore I can’t see any longer. I do not understand why they went to shore against the current when a shift to the left should come in. It is more interesting to go to the west, the further west the more it goes left. We have had a good time at each headland with changes and new rankings at each of the marks. There is still quite a bit of work and quite a bit of breeze for the finish of the leg. The tiredness is getting to me, and I have not slept much with all the cargo ships, the seaweed, wind shifts and boat tuning to handle. I did manage 3 or 4 naps last night though.”

Marc Emig ( A.ST Group) on the western option
“Here I have quite a bit of pressure with lots of right so it is out of the question tacking for now it should veer round to the west at the end of the day. Breeze is around 19 knots and I am trying to make some food but it is not easy with a 40 degree angle when the kettle is clanking around. I did get some sleep this morning, but at the wrong moment because there was a 50-degree wind shift that I missed. We are waiting for some quite strong wind from the South West and so there is something to go with to try and beat the competition. It looks like the rounding should be quite quick and then drop a bit when the ridge comes over, but we should still have some breeze.”