Outcome tonight

The atmosphere cooled down last night for the fleet of Figaro racers. Firstly the wind picked speed with a northwesterly 25 knot flow with gusts of up to 30 knots. However, the thermometer dropped sufficiently causing, already groggy with fatigue our sailors, to shiver. Finally, the battle became more intense with an Armel Le Cléac'h still very much at ease in his position as leader, followed closely by Jérémie Beyou, however, we can note the return on the west of racers such as François Gabart, the Portuguese Francisco Lobato, the newcomer Anthony Marchand, Fabien Delahaye and especially Jeanne Grégoire, who has made a spectacular recovery from 29th place on Wednesday morning to 7th place this Thursday at 11:00. On board Groupe Bel, Kito clocked in in 8th position, 4.6 miles from the leader of the pack.

The competitors rounded the SN1 race mark, located off Saint-Nazaire, a little before 23:00 on Wednesday. This passage marked the end of this long tack on a cross wind which started as they left Gijón Tuesday afternoon, and which was marked by an extremely physical last day during which they had to stay riveted to the helm to cope with each wave and each gust.

Since then the contenders have been beating upwind and playing between the islands of Brittany, starting with Belle-Île, which the majority of the fleet, including Kito, sailed past well offshore, then the Island of Groix, where the race required that they pass on the inland side. As they left the western tip of the island behind them, they started to give chase to the “Jackal” (Armel's nickname) and this will go on till the Pointe de Penmarc'h and then the Goulet de Brest (narrows), where the competitors are expected this evening, around midnight.

The Bel skipper is attacking the leading group, as are his friends; one last day in which there is no choice but to stay clear-headed enough to negotiate the rocks and currents correctly. Kito obviously has not lost his touch in Figaro racing. It is now time to wait for the outcome of this second leg.

1 - BRIT AIR - LE CLEAC’H Armel
2 - SKIPPER MACIF 2010 - GABART François
3 - BPI - BEYOU Jérémie
4- ESPOIR REGION BRETAGNE - MARCHAND Anthony
5 - ROFF / TEMPO-TEAM - LOBATO Francisco
6 - PORT DE CAEN - OUISTREHAM - DELAHAYE Fabien
7 - GROUPE BEL - De PAVANT Kito

Ranking of thursday 5 august at 11 am : click here

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