After a start in weak winds, the solo sailors progress towards the tip of Brittany.
on boardExpress
The appetizer of this first leg was rather sweet for the 34 entered in this 53rd edition of the Solitaire du Figaro . The lack of wind complicates their progress despite everything. The offshore wind farm in Saint-Nazaire, still under construction, is not yet stirring. While the first part of the night offered alternating small areas of calm where the boats were moving at less than 1 knot, Éole made its appearance around 2am. Nothing thunderous for this South West settling. With, to play up the pace of the race, small oscillations to exploit, and therefore tacks between Belle-Île and the mainland to be made. The rain sticking to oilskins, one speck hiding another.
Improvements to Breast
The more or less compact fleet should move upwind all day towards the Chaussée de Sein hoped for before next night. This waypoint will be important because it will have time bonuses. 5 minutes for the first, 3 minutes for the second and 1 minute for the third.
While sailing in a wind of 7 to 8 knots, with a swell and a constraining chop, the Spaniard Pep Costa (Team Play to B-Terravia) chronicled his first few miles of running as the sun had just entered the picture: “The start of the night was not easy with variable and very light conditions. It was complicated to manage. We didn’t really know where to go. Fortunately the wind came back and that allowed us to make the road. You had to be on it all the time. I think I did pretty well, although I would prefer to be a bit more with the front pack. But there will still be plenty of opportunities. There are still three nights left and we will take things one after the other.
Also playing with the oscillations of the wind, Alexis Thomas (Charente Maritime) was glad to have regained some speed, even though he was progressing above the pack: “I took a transparent tarp over my keel bulb last night. I realized that I wasn’t progressing normally when coming out of a little nap. Day was beginning to dawn. So I had to back up to remove it. Now, there are a few people around me, but my positioning scares me a bit at the moment because I don’t think I’ll be in a good position when the switch to the left happens. I hope it will not change all of a sudden so that I can readjust myself.
This wind shift, Gaston Morvan (Region of Brittany-CMB Hope) was also looking forward to it: “The wind is currently from the West-North-West and my route, facing the cross sea, is not really in the direction of the tip of Brittany but I don’t have much choice. The wind should turn left in a few minutes and this will allow us to make our way to the Glénans. Towards the earth. I see almost everyone and I think I have a good start to the race. It’s good to be in the right package from the start. But a lot of things are going to happen, we are only at the beginning of our surprises.
The road is still long to Port-la-Forêt, a small detour towards the Celtic Sea and the English coasts to enhance their journey.
