Solitaire du Figaro – Outlook as uncertain as ever

by Marie Le Berrigaud Perochon on 10 Jun 2013 In the 2013 Solitaire du Figaro, once again, as it did on the first leg, the passage around Cape Finisterre is proving to be the key stage for the 41 skippers competing in the second leg from Porto to Gijòn, on the northern coast of Spain. Mist, fickle and unstable winds are making the Figaro skippers' life hard and the outlook seems to be as uncertain as ever. During the first night at sea, sailing North along the Portuguese and Spanish coast, the Solitaire du Figaro – Eric Bompard cachemire fleet made good progress in a westerly breeze between eight and 11 knots. But as the leaders approached Cap Finisterre the wind dropped almost completely, becoming as light as three knots, increasingly shifty, and the fleet were engulfed in thick fog. As the leaders round the NW tip of the Iberian peninsula with a very light and shifty SW breeze, the fleet has split into two groups: one to the East, lead by Gildas Morvan (Cercle Vert) and one which has opted to stay offshore. With a lateral separation of more than six miles, a long, stressful gybing duel has started. But nobody can really tell how it is going to end. 'Looks more like Ireland than Spain' said some of the skippers to describe the conditions. The point of the Iberian peninsula is shrouded in mist and skippers have a hard time detecting any small puffs and shifts on the water surface with a wind only 3 knots. As a consequence the fleet has compressed and it is likely that there will be a re-start after cap Finisterre, just as it happened on leg 1.

The inshore option seems to have paid off. According to the latest position report mid afternoon Sunday Gildas Morvan (Cercle Vert) is still in the lead, followed by Jean-Pierre Nicol (Bernard Controls) and young rookie Simon Troël (Les Recycleurs Bretons). Yet, the latest position report and the race tracker show that the situation can change over again soon. The more offshore group, with Michel Desjoyeaux (TBS) Fabien Delahaye (Skipper Macif 2012), Alexis Loison (Groupe Fiva), Paul Meilhat (Skipper Macif 2011) among others has entered a better corridor of wind and were sailing in 10 knots of breeze whilst the more inshore group were slowed down in a lighter pressure area. The youngest entrant David Kenefick (Full Irish) has found a good way to celebrate his 22nd birthday today. As per the latest position he's leading the Anglo-Saxon contingent in 23rd, Nick Cherry (Magma Structures) after being in the top ten group for most of the time has slipped back to 27th . Sam Goodchild (Shelterbox – Disaster Relief) and Jackson Bouttell (Aremis 77) are in 30th and 31st respectively. Henry Bomby (Rockfish) is in 33rd 36th whilst Edmund Hill's (Artemis 37) is still trailing the fleet, more than 16 miles from the leaders. Unfortunately the situation does not look to improve over the coming hours and sailing between Cap Finisterre and Cap Ortega won't be at all straightforward. Focus and determination are most needed to try move forward and head offshore to avoid the high cliffs shadowing effect in such a fickle breeze. The weather forecast issued by Météo Consult for today is anything but encouraging: mist, poor visibility, and light variable winds. Enough to put to the test even the more unflappable Figarist... David Kenefick (Full Irish): ' Very wet for my birthday! I'm turning 22 today. What kind of present I'd like for my birthday? Some more wind, some sunshine and to catch up some people in front of me... It's cloudy, drizzling and there is very little wind, you can't see very much, it's horrible. It's like in Ireland. I got a little bit of rest yesterday, but I'm still very tired because I had a very bad start so I've been trying to catch up. I hope the wind will stay the same and hopefully to build a little bit. I can see the other boats, most of the fleet, it's very close'. Gildas Morvan (Cercle Vert): 'Life is not bad, could be worse than this. We have a bit more wind since a couple of hours. We're going again, there is a bit more than 6 knots from the SW and it's we're sliding along, spinnaker up. There is a bit of chop, bit it's not that bad. For now, it's ok, but we have to wait some more to see if this is the good option. Common sense would be that the wind goes west, sooner or later and then SW. usually with this breeze it's good to stay inshore. And I chose the right time to get to Cap Finisterre. I had some naps but Couldn't really sleep long. This is not the right time to sleep, it's the key moment of the leg. Then it looks it's going to be a little easier'. Nick Cherry (Magma Structures): 'The wind is changing a lot and the positions are changing a lot. Sometimes it's going well , sometimes it's going badly. At the moment it's going badly for me but hopefully there will be more options to come. I can't sleep, I haven slept last night. Currently I have about five knots of wind, the spinnaker up and flat water, but it's changing all the time. I can't say exactly who they are, but I can see boats around me. For the next hours I guess it's going to be more or less the same, it could get even lighter still. I'm not really sure. I think we we'll get to the north coast then it will be light again...' Jérémie Beyou (Maître CoQ): 'We had a good night, I managed to get to the front this morning but then the air disappeared. We kept very close to shore, then there was a long time with no wind for us and the others overtook. We are under spinnaker, with three or four knots. There is going be a compression and then a re-start. The sky is still grey and I think it's not going to change much'. Simon Troël (Les Recycleurs Bretons): 'Not all the starts are the same. Good for me! I tried to keep on the direct route to NW and suddendly I found myself sailing in front with Adrien (Hardy), Michel (Desjoyeaux) and Paulo (Paul Meilhat). They're fast! Cercle Vert is a bit lower than me, but it doesn't look like Gildas (Morvan) has better pressure than I have. It looks like Ireand, grey sky, huge cliffs, but we're in Spain! There is not much wind, we are under spinnaker. I think those who are higher are not that faster but they had a good moment. I was there, next to Jean-Pierre (Nicol) and I got a nap, now I have a mile!' La Solitaire