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Solitaire du Figaro

A fine game with everything still to play for

Kito de Pavant still leader after three races

jeudi 22 août 2002Information Solitaire du Figaro

And so there were three ! After a whole night of Spanish finishes punctuated by some mischievous calms, the entire Single-handed Figaro 2002 has taken on a completely different tone. The winners of the leg who directed their bow from the shade to the light, the favourites who didn’t come up with the goods, a leader in the general rankings who imposes some regularity… decidedly everything is to play for and everything has to be done during the fourth leg between Gijon and Cherbourg-Octeville. The last lap in this 33rd edition of the « former » Figaro Bénéteau will certainly be rich in emotion and surprise !

The night finishers were unable to hide their emotion in the fleet. With the big smile of Charles Caudrelier Benac (Bostik Findley) who gave the best of himself in a perilous high speed race, the bitter tears of the firm candidates for victory who had seen the line of deliverance swiped from under their bow, and the expected reactions from the Figaro which handed out notes which were too salty to cash … the pontoons of Gijon were vibrating. « El Puerto (the door) » of the Asturias resounded to the rhythm of the sailors returning to land, after 350 miles of unpredictability.

Everyone feared the landing in Gijon, famed promised land for satisfying desires on the home stretch, and it was certainly spiced up by a flat calm finish. There was something dark brewing in the black Spanish night ... when, some miles from the line, the wind scarpered playing lottery with the finishers and the gaps between them. This propelled the first home from the sea into the high general rankings, and relegated their pursuers into some more uncomfortable places. Just a few gusts away.

« The pressure of stress and then joy », for the great victor of the night, who learnt to win in complete serenity. « The sufferances due to becalming, really make you suffer. It’s a shame, we really held onto the calm at the finish especially, which cut the regatta short », for Jeanne Grégoire (Département de l’Aisne), the "en vogue" Miss who refused to have anything to do with the first-timer ranking honours after a leg which was finely fought nevertheless. In the night, there were winners and some losers… later on that morning the big victims of this dangerous leg arrived. Leader Gildas Morvan (Cercle Vert) arrived … 23rd in Gijon. The likes of which have never been seen ! « I’m 6 hours behind the frontrunner, that’s a lot on a leg like that. The Figaro this year is going to be hard. I am a whole tide behind and that’s being very hypothetical. Only the last leg is left to take a leg victory and finish in style », he says though he knows all the ropes of his monotype Monotype #sportboats full well. Since Belle Ile, there has been some time to digest and analyse this catastrophic leg. The defeats and the victories, there’s been a few of those and no matter what, « the Figaro is still a magnificent event. » Right up to the last !

None of this can be set in stone so the race still leaves the door wide open for the finest of coups. After 1226 miles covered there’s still a lot to write about for the final surge. Antoine Koch (Saunier Duval), Sébastien Audigane (Sport without limits) and now Charles Caudrelier Benac, the three winners of the leg have already been a great advert for the race. And there we have a group of eight new skippers, in which the big favourites don’t even figure. All in all there are 37 minutes and 47 seconds separating them, which leaves the field open for any new developments and new anecdotes which certainly don’t lack a bit of seasoning.

« The youngsters push hard, they’re going well, very fast. Charles especially … with the boat of King Jean (NDLR Jean Le Cam), he’s sailing well there. This leg was a fine operation for me. But it’s not over yet ! The last round is going to be intense ; a great fight is in view. At the start in Boulogne, we weren’t ranked amongst the favourites, but we got there… and we’re still there in fact. It’s working out for the old timers this year ! » says Kito, who was shattered after having given it his all.

The corsair skipper, seemingly unknown on all the pontoons, can rejoice. He has saved the bet and widened the gap a little at the end of a chase packed with gybes under spinnaker. Some beautiful work from the Southerner. « Everything is fine, the die have not yet been cast. It’s a Figaro for outsiders… but it’s worth mentioning that in the south we have saltier feet ! » retorts Gilles Chiorri (32 01 from Météo Consult), still 3rd in the general rankings.

Young wolves against old foxes. Mediterraneans, specialists in light wind, versus the kings of the Breton breezes. Favorites against newcomers in the places of honour, there still remain 465 miles ahead of the bows before we know the name of the overall winner in Cherbourg-Octeville. Quite a programme !

Gwénaël Riou, first newcomer

It was around 8 o’clock on Wednesday morning that Gwénaël Riou (Espoir Crédit Agricole) crossed the finish line in Gijon, in 21st position. At the end of this third leg, the young chick « raised » in the Centre of Port La Forêt ranked 23rd in the general rankings and confirmed his first place in the newcomer rankings. « I didn’t handle the climb up towards Belle Ile very well, I was passed and after that it became very difficult to get back into the swing of things. I thought I’d managed to recuperate pretty well but then I fell asleep at the helm. The end of the course proved to be more simple except for the finish in Spain. I think the hardest thing was being becalmed just in front of the line … there were ten of us in the slack zone and in the end there were just three of us who were able to escape on a gust … phew ! » he confides as he widens the gap on his closest pursuer, Jeanne Grégoire.

Laure Faÿ


Classement général provisoire après trois manches avant jury
- Rg Skipper N° Bateau Temps d’arrivée
- 1 DE PAVANT Christophe 8 Malice en 235h03’44’’
- 2 CAUDRELIER Charles 5 Bostik Findley à 13’07’’
- 3 CHIORRI Gilles 24 32 01 de Météo Consult à 16’01’’
- 4 RIOU Vincent 85 PRB Produits de Revêtement du Bâtiment à 32’01’’
- 5 TABARLY Erwan 7 Thales - Armor Lux à 33’34’’
- 6 VICARIOT Philippe 44 Thales à 37’05’’
- 7 BEYOU Jérémie 3 Delta Dore à 37’48’’
- 8 KOCH Antoine 10 Saunier Duval à 37’49’’
- 9 DROUGLAZET Eric 1 David Olivier à 1h04’50’’
- 10 ELIES Yann 9 Groupe Générali Assurances à 1h12’54’’
- 11 AUDIGANE Sébastien 46 Sport Sans Frontières à 1h33’39’’
- 12 JOSSE Sébastien 2 Créaline à 1h35’18’’
- 13 ATTANASIO Romain 51 Port Trebeurden à 2h06’04’’
- 14 GUERIN Ronan 150 Saint-Nazaire / Escal’Atlantic à 2h12’47’’
- 15 TROUSSEL Nicolas 136 Galinette à 2h16’31’’
- 16 CHABAGNY Thierry 147 Petit Navire Le Bon Goût du Large à 2h25’54’’
- 17 LE CLEAC’H Armel 6 Créaline à 3h24’29’’
- 18 PELLECUER Laurent 110 Languedoc Mutualité Hippocratus.com à 4h31’18’’
- 19 PETIT Benoit 201 Top’Océan à 4h41’15’’
- 20 TOULORGE Alexandre 35 Cherbourg - Crédit Mutuel à 4h46’29’’
- 21 MORVAN Gildas 4 Cercle Vert à 6h10’18’’
- 22 MARSSET Bertrand 22 Passion à 8h59’41’’
- 23 € RIOU Gwénaël 42 Espoir Crédit Agricole à 9h30’11’’
- 24 NABART Laurent 27 Ajaccio Corse du sud à 10h25’10’’
- 25 MOUREN Jean-Paul 97 M@rseille Entreprises à 11h04’27’’
- 26 € GREGOIRE Jeanne 18 Département de l’Aisne à 11h45’23’’
- 27 € BOISSIERES Arnaud 30 Delta Dore & Partenaires à 12h27’06’’
- 28 BALOGH François 14 Générale d’Emballage - FIGA à 13h34’01’’
- 29 € FEREC Alain 94 Hotel Vauban - Camaret sur Mer à 14h54’05’’
- 30 € GRAVELEAU Vincent 101 Bati 85 Qualeader à 18h39’41’’
- 31 COATNOAN Christophe 19 Groupe Partouche à 18h41’16’’
- 32 € BULOT Jean-François 142 Crédit Mutuel à 19h50’48’’
- 33 € TINCELIN Dominique 214 Dragonfly à 20h13’54’’
- 34 € GREGOIRE Yann 33 Sailfast.Biz Gestion Projet Voile à 21h29’07’’
- 35 € PEYRET Jean-Marie 21 Dubus SA, la Bourse Universelle à 22h03’11’’
- 36 ROBEIN Louis 100 Le Souffle de la mer à 30h06’48’’
- 37 ALFARO Amaiur 50 Le Journal du Pays Basque à 35h26’21’’
—  € MARTINAGE Yvan 11 Société Générale - CAB - Boulogne/mer DNC

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image 300 x 158Photo : Ch.Guigueno / Pipof.com/voile

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image 300 x 158De Pavant the new leader. Photo : Ch.Guigueno / Pipof.com/voile

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