Following the inspection of the on-board computers of all the Figaro BENETEAU 3s after the final finish of La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec in Piriac-sur-Mer, the jury of the French Sailing Federation (FFVoile), chaired by Georges Priol, took the decision on Saturday afternoon to exclude Benoît Tuduri (CAPSO – En Cavale) from the race and to disqualify Pierre Daniellot (Team Vendée Formation) from the second and third stages of the race.

Race organisers released the following statement:

"In contravention of the race rules, which strictly prohibit phone connections off the boat during the race, the two sailors actually downloaded GRIB (weather) files during the race, which is prohibited by the class rule and therefore also contravenes World Sailing Rule 69 (damage to the image of the sport). These decisions mean a modification of the General Classification of the race, the Beneteau des Bizuths classification and the Beneteau des Bizuths Trophy.

Following an inspection carried out on Saturday, two boats were the subject of a jury report: CAPSO – En Cavale and Team Vendée Formation.

"The race rules strictly prohibit phone connections off the boat during the race"

“The skippers of these two boats downloaded weather files during the race. We summoned these two racers who appeared before the jury. The documents provided to us prove that they actually downloaded files,” explains Georges Priol. During the investigation, the skipper of CAPSO – En Cavale “admitted that he had taken a second phone on board allowing him to benefit from an Internet connection, which absolutely contravenes all the rules of the race on which the means of reception on board are prohibited. Following his hearing by the FFVoile jury, Benoît Tuduri is therefore excluded from the event. “Given the seriousness of the facts, a report will be sent by the jury to the FFVoile, which could lead to additional consequences for the racer.”

The case of Pierre Daniellot is a little different: due to the limited number of files downloaded, one in England, the other in Vendée and without proven proof that he had a telephone on board, the sanction is not as heavy. He was disqualified from stages 2 and 3. He dropped from 9th to 28th place in the general classification, knowing that any person disqualified on a stage is credited with the last person's time to which three hours are added.

The fundamental principle of La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec is simple: sailors fight on equal terms on one-design boats. Therefore, it is the sailor who makes the difference. The rules of sailing racing were applied, and those who deviated from them were sanctioned".

On stage 3 the new podium is as follows: 1 Jules Delpech (ORCOM) 2 Elodie Bonafous (Queguiner - la vie en rose) 3 Gaston Morvan (Brittany Region - CMB performance)

New rookies ranking: 1 Victor Le Pape (Région Bretagne - CMB espoir) 2 Romain Le gall (Centre d'excellence voile - Secours populaire) 3 Julie Simon (Douze)

New overall rankings here