17.08.2010 Back to news

Third at the Fastnet, Groupe Bel is up there

© JC.Marmara / A.Courcoux / Le Figaro

At 01h01'33'' precisely, Gildas Morvan (Cercle Vert) was the first competitor to round the Fastnet lighthouse and hoist his spinnaker, a few seconds ahead of Corentin Douguet (E.Leclerc Mobile) and Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel). But at the first position report at 0400 this morning, with all 42 boats on the downhill sleighride under spinnaker in a solid 25-30 knot northwesterly wind, guess who had taken the lead? Yes, it's Armel Le Cléac'h, the grand master of this 41st edition!

After the 45 miles of upwind slog between Kinsale and the Fastnet, the fleet is now racing at full throttle. Full-on, pedal to the metal, eyes riveted to the spinnaker which must not be damaged under any circumstances, the competitors are positioning themselves for the long downwind ride towards the Ile Vierge. The fleet has already spread out laterally over 18 miles, between the westernmost competitor, Eric Péron, and the easternmost one, Gildas Morvan. The latter should be able to see a red spinnaker sporting a pirate cow in his wake, since Kito has also chosen this side of the course, which is closer to the direct route. At dawn, Groupe Bel was in 7th position, a mile off Armel, quite clearly in very good shape at the front.

Right now, it’s cold and wet on the Figaros, but there is no time to complain about the Irish weather. The conditions are providing a true test of sportsmanship, since flying the spinnaker in 30 knots of wind in the middle of a fleet of 40 boats requires nerves of steel and solid confidence in one’s ability.

Ranking on the 17th August at 0430:

1 – LE CLEAC'H Armel / BRIT AIR at 359.70 miles from Cherbourg
2 – DOUGUET Corentin / E.LE.LECLERC MOBILE at 0.20 nm from the leader
3 - MORVAN Gildas / CERCLE VERT at 0.50 nm
4 - BEYOU Jérémie / BPI at 0.90 nm
5 - NICOL Jean-Pierre / BERNARD CONTROLS at 0.90 nm
6 - GABART François / SKIPPER MACIF at 1.00 nm
7 - de PAVANT Kito / GROUPE BEL at 1.00 nm
8 - ROUXEL Thomas / Crédit Mutuel de Bretagne at 1.10 nm
9 - PELLECUER Laurent / Arnolfini.fr at 1.50 nm
10 - TREUSSART Ronan / LUFTHANSA at 1.60 nm

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