Irish sailor Tom Dolan, aboard Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan, had been leading the pack in the first stage of La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec. However, after breaking to the northeast from the top group at the Isles of Scilly, he spent several hours slowed in the light winds and dropped to fourth in the late afternoon.
Meanwhile, the main peloton, including the solo skippers who had led in the English Channel, were still tightly grouped some 30 miles to the west of Dolan. The western pack is expected to hit strong downwind conditions first, but will have sailed many more miles than Dolan, who appears to be focusing on sailing the shortest distance to the iconic rocky light at Kinsale, Ireland.
"Fast, wet Fastnet passage in prospect"
The final 45-mile sprint into Kinsale is highly anticipated, with the town being the most visited stop in the 54-year history of the solo offshore race. The first leg of the race seems to be very finely balanced, but whichever skipper or group is able to set their kites and surf directly towards the rock could gain an unbeatable advantage.
The best British skipper, David Paul, currently sits in 27th place on Sailingpoiint.co/Just a Drop, less than a mile ahead of Kiwi rookie Ben Beasley (Ocean Attitude) and Germany’s Susann Beucke (This Race is Female). However, the young New Zealander has sailed a solid first-ever La Solitaire leg but will be disappointed to be protested for sailing into the TSS exclusion zone at the Scillies, a tough rookie lesson to take.
They said, by VHF…….
Corentin Horeau (Banque Populaire) 14th this afternoon, “I am with the group, my buddies. The right pack. What more can you want at this stage? We have some sunshine before the grey weather forecast for tonight in Ireland. At the Scillies, there were quite a few possible choices. We'll see what that produces at the Fastnet. But to get there, you will first have to deal with the light winds all today. We were a little ahead of the routings but it is evolving. Logically, we must pass the Fastnet tonight with fairly strong winds especially. It might be a night for the hard hat, but it should be nice by morning in Kinsale.”
Loïs Berrehar (2022 MACIFSkipper), 16th: “The wind has dropped a lot. It's light on this tack but I feel good. I am in pretty good shape, surprisingly. I just put on my gennaker, a sail for downwind work, as it has lifted now. And that’s a pretty good sign. It could allow us to accelerate towards the Fastnet finally. It is going to be an interesting night.”
