2016 La Solitaire Bompard Le Figaro - Erwan Tabarly first of stage one

by Riva.com on 23 Jun 2016 2016 La Solitaire Bompard Le Figaro - Erwan Tabarly, solo skipper of Armor Lux, finished first of the grueling Stage one of the Solitaire Bompard Le Figaro when he crossed the finish line at the Needles Fairway buoy to the west of the Isle of Wight at 21:27hrs and 57 secs BST(TU +1) this evening (Wed).

Tabarly’s elapsed time is three days, nine hours, 25 minutes and 54 seconds for the passage from Deauville, France on a course that started on Sunday and took the fleet out to Wolf Rock, by Land's End, and back.

When he crossed the finish line, second-placed Yoann Richomme (Skipper MACIF 2014) was within sight at less than half-a-mile behind. The duo made a key breakaway from the other fleet leaders this morning off Start Point when they escaped into a stronger breeze. The duo swapped positions at one point but Richomme made a small mistake and slipped behind into second again.

Since winning the Transat AG2R La Mondiale two-handed transatlantic race from Concarneau to Saint Barth's, sailing with co-skipper Thierry Chabagny (Gedimat), in late April this year, Tabarly has been considered one of the favourites to win the 2016 Solitaire. He has been trying to win the annual multi-stage solo race since 2000 but has never finished better than third overall.