Ireland’s Tom Dolan remains firmly on course to win the second stage of La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec, the 515 miles leg from Gijón to Royan. With just 30 miles to go to the finish line at 0930hrs local time this Wednesday morning he has a lead of just over six miles. In a few short hours he should see the Cordouan lighthouse at mouth of the Gironde. Behind him Gaston Morvan (Région Bretagne – CMB Performance) is still having problems with his autopilot but has taken second place from Alexis Thomas (Wings of the Ocean). Charlotte Yven (Skipper Macif 2023) holds fourth place.

Dolan reported this morning, "The machine gives us an ETA in 5h15 (radio vacation of 06h00) for the entrance to the Gironde. This northwesterly wind is extremely unstable, so the wind shifts a lot. It's starting to calm down a little, but there's a lot of work to do on board. I haven't rested much, you have to be on it all the time. The pilot is steering quite well, however, it doesn't know how to trim the sails yet. I'm managing to do it better than it. The wind is averaging 320° for 14 knots, there's less sea. There's still a bit of adjustment to be made, especially since last night, I've seen the two champions behind, it's pushing me on a bit. It's very nice to see the ranking. But until the finish line is crossed, I'm not going to say much more, but yes, it's very good. I'm in pretty good shape, I feel good for this final."

During this morning's radio broadcast, second placed Gaston Morvan, who reported yesterday that he had lost the use of his pilot, said that he is keeping up the pace and seems to be able to use it a little bit. That’s a godsend for the skipper allowing him to leave the helm and grab some minutes of restorative sleep.

“I’m hanging on as best I can to keep up the pace. It’s getting a bit tough in terms of sleep and energy on board. I can see that I’m managing to hold on to the frontrunners. I’m trying to give all the commitment I need until the end. There are about fifty miles left, we’ll soon see the end. The night was long, the sun is starting to rise, it feels good. It’s not a big deal. There were a few clouds and therefore some instability, you had to be focused on the settings. I think I did well. We’ll see in Royan. I managed to put a tiny bit of pilot in without it turning me around, I was able to have a little nap or two, but it’s just about right. The weather is a bit monotonous on this long leg. There was nothing, no sail change, no maneuvers, so I am keen to see the end of the leg, but we don't know how the very end of the race will go. The good news is that we are racing to the end of the course. That certainly means there is wind, otherwise it would have been shortened. The fact that I managed to overtake Wings of the Ocean (Alexis Thomas) feels good. We were side by side for quite a few hours. This time, it's for me. We will arrive with the current, the gaps should reduce, but we will see. I managed to get Tom Dolan's signal, he is not far ahead, it's pretty cool."

For Charlotte Yven (Skipper Macif 2023), this last run towards the mouth of the Gironde and Royan, feels like a deliverance. Firmly clinging to fourth place for 48 hours now, she is up against Hugo Dhalenne (YCSL - Primatice - SLB Pharma) and Martin Le Pape (DEMAIN).

"It's going pretty well. I saw people reappear at the AIS as I got closer to those in front. I'm happy with that. So there will be a little less of a gap at the end. A long leg like that for hours and hours is not easy. A bit long and monotonous. But at the same time, the boat has to go as fast as possible and be on the sheets all the time. The others aren't going to wait for you. You also have to manage to juggle between going to rest and finding the right settings. It's all still interesting. The conditions have calmed down a lot, because we had a big one at the start of the re-crossing of the gulf. It wasn't pleasant. Now, it's pretty cool. There are 10-12 knots of wind and the sky is clear and we can see the stars well. Without a moon, there is no light, but it is nice. It's going great.”

And from the Race Direction boat this morning Race Director Yann Chateau sent this message: “It was a relatively quiet final night at sea that allowed the sailors to get some rest after a very testing 36-48 hours. The final stretch into Royan is coming up with ten to twelve knots of wind for all of the fleet. There may be a small patch of lighter airs as the frontrunners approach Gironde. The first boats are expected to be off Royan at between 1430 and 1500hrs. They are likely to be under spinnaker, so it will be quite a sight with the fleet spread out quite a lot and some relatively big gaps in this second leg.”