With 140 nautical miles to go to the finish of the first leg of the 55th La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec, there is less than two miles between first-placed Lois Berrerhar (Skipper MACIF 2022) and tenth-positioned Maëlle Garnier (Selencia-Cerfrance).
At one point earlier on this fourth day of the 615-mile leg from Le Havre to Gijon, via Wolf Rock routing predictions for the three groups—west, middle, and east of the rhumb line—had the top of each pack arriving within 15 minutes of each other.
Berrehar’s lead is negligible. He is virtually even with the hugely talented Elodie Bonafous (Quéguiner-La Vie en Rose). Long-time leader of this stage Alexis Loison (GROUPE REEL) dropped today as he moved east, but his position in ninth had steadied, as had that of Ireland’s Tom Dolan, who is in eighth on Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan.
After a fairly complicated night for the sailors, punctuated by numerous tacks to try to take advantage of the small wind oscillations, three groups formed: one to the west, sailing in effect a longer course. They were the first to hit the wind shift to the northwest after the front passed The groups in the centre and to the east chose to tack relatively early to head south and to make a more direct course towards Spain.
"The competitors passed a cold front that wasn't very active in the early morning. There were around fifteen knots initially but it quickly eased. They were still able to play around in it a bit, work their best angles and set spinnakers earlier in the west ", analysed Amélie Juvien, Deputy Race Director. Winds had dropped this afternoon and the leaders had around 10-12knots from the NW as they passed the latitude of Bordaux this late afternoon.
Dolan who won the first leg last year into Kinsale reported, “The fleet spread right out during the night. Some set off to the east, while others went west. We’re getting around the ridge of high pressure now, even if I tried to avoid it by going further east. In any case, it’s nice to have some sunny weather, as that means we can dry our clothes. We’re moving towards a gradual wind shift. We’ll all be gybing to end up on the port tack to get to Gijón. The boat is side on to the waves, so we’re getting tossed around quite a lot. It’s not that easy to go and get some rest. I’ll wait for the seas to calm a bit to put on the autopilot. I think I’ll get to Gijón late tomorrow, during the night.”
"The ridge is shifting to the east and catching up with them. It is difficult at this stage to know which option will pay off because there is a soft spot (windless area) in the north of Gijón. We do not yet know if the wind will establish itself or if it will remain soft. Depending on that, things can accelerate very quickly to end up in a northerly wind, with a thermal effect on the coast,” concludes the Assistant Race Director."
In the Défi Paprec – the two handed etape on the same course- Britain’s Ellie Driver and David Paul are up to third on Chilli Pepper, just 0.3 of a mile behind the French duo who are second and fifteen miles behind the leaders.
Germany’s Sanni Beucke (This Race is Female) – who had to retire from the stage with a damaged inner shroud – has made a replacement ashore and is on delivery now to Gijon to be ready for Stage 2.
