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Displaying items by tag: Matthieu Girolet

A collision after the restart of the La Solitaire du Figaro off Kinsale this afternoon has resulted in the retiral of two of the leading competitors. Both boats have returned to Kinsale marina and withdrawn from the race.

After a general recall a 'violent collision' occurred during the build up to the second start between Swiss Bernard Stamm (Cheminée Poujoulat) and Matthieu Girolet (Entreprendre).

The collision was as a result of a port and starboard incident.

As both boats suffered from serious hull damage both skippers decided it was not safe to continue racing and abandoned the Solitaire.

Stamm's Figaro had a conspicuous hole on the bow (below) and despite all the other competitors' shore teams immediately started working on it, the damage was too extensive to be repaired in a reasonable amount of time.

Girolet's breakage was equally evident, and he also reported to have some parts detached inside the boat and there was doubt the rig was still intact.

Stamm will be given a DNF in the final ranking which means the last's time plus two hours. Racing continued for the other 42 skippers, who, before heading offshore had to sail a windward/leeward course between the Seamobile and the Radio France Marks, with a good breeze of 10 to 12 knots.

Bob Bateman's photographs of the damage to the Swiss boat, Bernard Stamm (Cheminée Poujoulat) is below:

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Preparing for La Solitaire du Figaro here

Latest news for La Solitaire du Figaro here
Published in Figaro

About Match Racing

A match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head.

In yacht racing, it is differentiated from a fleet race, which almost always involves three or more competitors competing against each other, and team racing where teams consisting of 2, 3 or 4 boats compete together in a team race, with their results being combined.

A match race consists of two identical boats racing against each other. With effective boat handling and clever use of wind and currents, a trailing boat can escape the grasp of the leader and pass. The leader uses blocking techniques to hold the other boat back. This one-on-one duel is a game of strategy and tactics.

About the World Match Racing Tour

Founded in 2000, the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) promotes the sport of match racing around the world and is the longest running global professional series in the sport of sailing. The WMRT is awarded ‘Special Event’ status by the sport’s world governing body – World Sailing – and the winner of the WMRT each year is crowned World Sailing Match Racing World Champion. Previous champions include Sir Ben Ainslie (GBR), Taylor Canfield (USA), Peter Gilmour (AUS), Magnus Holmberg (SWE), Peter Holmberg (ISV), Adam Minoprio (NZL), Torvar Mirsky (AUS), Bertrand Pace (FRA), Jesper Radich (DEN), Phil Robertson (NZL) and Ian Williams (GBR). Since 2000, the World Match Racing Tour and its events have awarded over USD23million in prize money to sailors which has helped to contribute to the career pathway of many of today’s professional sailors