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02.08.2010 Back to news
Starting again with the same crew!
 | © JC. Marmara / A. Courcoux / Le Figaro |
24 hours before this new start, the Groupe Bel skipper has been taking things calmly, aware that the five leaders of the ranking, Armel Le Cléac’h at the top, have a fair lead, but that behind the distances are relatively small, and that he will not be able to save his strength.
“I feel that overall, I am in the position that I deserve to be in after this first leg”, Kito told us this lunchtime. “I’ve come through fairly well, but I also slipped up in places which can be seen in the final result. The level of the fleet these days is much more consistent than it was when I started Figaro racing, and even since I left the class in 2006. They are all good. There is very little speed difference between us. Only ten yachts stand out from the fleet, such has those of Armel, Jeanne (Grégoire), Yann (Eliès), Gildas (Morvan), François (Gabart) and a few others. This small advantage does not come from the speed of their yachts alone, but from the perfect knowledge of what they have in their hands and their ability to trim fast and well. Each meter is hard earned, I find. It is up to me to make progress during the following legs. In any case, despite these Figaro races being exhausting, I'm having great fun. As for the second leg, we should be starting with a relatively fast crossing of the Bay of Biscay on a beam wind and, after this, things will become complicated in changing conditions with the passing of a weather front, before or with us, depending on the timing, for the finish in Brest.”
The competitors will not sail a direct course back up towards the town of Brest. They will have to negotiate the return crossing of the Bay of Biscay from the inside to leave the first mark to port side in front of the entrance to the Loire, the landing buoy SN1. Sailing back up along the isles of the southern coast of Brittany will leave the sailors the choice open of negotiating Belle-Île from the East or the West, but skippers will have to leave the île de Groix to port side then rejoin the southern point of Finistère off the Eckmühl lighthouse. The 20 nautical miles of the long sail in the bay of Audierne, before the passage of the Raz de Sein, may prove for some, according to the time of passage and the time of the tide, a fast or painfully slow run.
The final part of the 2nd leg will consist of a sail full north in the Irish Sea leaving the turret La Parquette to starboard. The fleet will set a course on Brest harbour with its narrow gulley, which may yet hold surprises in store a few miles from the finish. This leg will be a true sprint in the area of Biscay where the hazards multiply at the end of the course, and no doubt will be a leg full of suspense.
“I feel that overall, I am in the position that I deserve to be in after this first leg”, Kito told us this lunchtime. “I’ve come through fairly well, but I also slipped up in places which can be seen in the final result. The level of the fleet these days is much more consistent than it was when I started Figaro racing, and even since I left the class in 2006. They are all good. There is very little speed difference between us. Only ten yachts stand out from the fleet, such has those of Armel, Jeanne (Grégoire), Yann (Eliès), Gildas (Morvan), François (Gabart) and a few others. This small advantage does not come from the speed of their yachts alone, but from the perfect knowledge of what they have in their hands and their ability to trim fast and well. Each meter is hard earned, I find. It is up to me to make progress during the following legs. In any case, despite these Figaro races being exhausting, I'm having great fun. As for the second leg, we should be starting with a relatively fast crossing of the Bay of Biscay on a beam wind and, after this, things will become complicated in changing conditions with the passing of a weather front, before or with us, depending on the timing, for the finish in Brest.”
The competitors will not sail a direct course back up towards the town of Brest. They will have to negotiate the return crossing of the Bay of Biscay from the inside to leave the first mark to port side in front of the entrance to the Loire, the landing buoy SN1. Sailing back up along the isles of the southern coast of Brittany will leave the sailors the choice open of negotiating Belle-Île from the East or the West, but skippers will have to leave the île de Groix to port side then rejoin the southern point of Finistère off the Eckmühl lighthouse. The 20 nautical miles of the long sail in the bay of Audierne, before the passage of the Raz de Sein, may prove for some, according to the time of passage and the time of the tide, a fast or painfully slow run.
The final part of the 2nd leg will consist of a sail full north in the Irish Sea leaving the turret La Parquette to starboard. The fleet will set a course on Brest harbour with its narrow gulley, which may yet hold surprises in store a few miles from the finish. This leg will be a true sprint in the area of Biscay where the hazards multiply at the end of the course, and no doubt will be a leg full of suspense.
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