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Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro
Fred Duthil wins leg 1 in Crosshaven
Breton skipper arrives ahead of Nicolas Troussel and Michel Desjoyeaux
vendredi 3 août 2007 –
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Fréderic is one of the few skippers, sailing in this annual highly competitive race that is not a full time professional sailor. An insurance specialist and former world champion windsufer, Duthil from Larmor Plage, in the Morbihan area of Brittany, is now enjoying sailing in the Figaro Class. This is the fourth time Duthil takes part La Solitaire it is the first time that he wins a leg.
Twenty-five competitors have finished within just one hour of the winner, which leaves the game open for the remaining part of the race. The lead swapped repeatedly throughout this first leg, which shows how tight the competition is. “It really was an incredible leg with constant lead changes,” describes an exhausted Duthil. “But when you see what happened to Gérald Véniard (finishes 44minutes and 36 seconds behind) who was with me at the Fairways mark (off the Isle of Wight) it is scary. There were constant lead changes,” continued Fred. Gildas Morvan (Cercle Vert) who led along the South coast of England has probably suffered the most to trail by nearly an hour at the finish, but both he and Gérald Veniard (Scutum) admit to making some mistakes, which they have paid for on time.
Jeanne Grégoire (Banque Populaire) finishes 9th in a great come back, after a poor start in Caen, and Liz Wardley comes in 11th, within 7 minutes of Jeanne despite repeated dives to clear a net stuck round the prop before the start of the race “which slowed me right down for the first day and a half” explains Liz. “I did go in the water twice to try and get it off, but the current was too strong and I could not keep up with the boat. Finally when conditions where lighter at Start Point, I managed to get it off on my third dive. Then I was back and fighting,” continues Liz.
Among the fleet of newcomers to the race, affectionately know as rookies, there are three with a goo pedigree in crewed sailing who have performed remarkably ; Nicolas Lunven (Bostik), Frédéric Rivet (Novotel Caen) and Vincent Biarnes (Côtes d’Armor).
La Solitaire is a race against the clock ; the aim is to be consistent and keep the time deficit to a minimum and this first race has not produced huge advantages but has highlighted just how easy the lead can change and just how much can be gained and lost in just one leg.
James Bird (GFI Group) is expected to rejoin the fleet in Crosshaven in time for the 2nd leg start on Monday from Crosshaven to Brest Brest #brest in France.
Sabina MOLLART-ROGERSON
Leg 1 rankings
1 7 Duthil Frédéric Distinxion arrivé le 03/08/07 à 11:09:55 en 67h49’55’
2 5 Troussel Nicolas Financo à 13’05’
3 45 Desjoyeaux Michel Foncia à 14’17’
4 92 Chabagny Thierry Brossard à 17’22’
5 68 Berenger Nicolas Koné Ascenseurs à 19’05’
6 38 Mahé Gildas Le Comptoir Immobilier à 30’00’
7 48 Svilarich Etienne Grain de Soleil à 34’40’
8 80 Treussart Ronan Groupe Celeos à 35’45’
9 8 Grégoire Jeanne Banque Populaire à 36’01’
10 10 Douguet Corentin E.Leclerc / Bouygues Telecom à 36’37’
11 * 19 Lunven Nicolas Bostik à 36’45’
12 70 Lepesqueux Marc Rapid’Flore Caen-La-Mer à 37’33’
13 24 Le Gal Franck Lenze à 39’26’
14 13 Mouren Jean-Paul M@rseillEntreprises à 39’30’
15 39 Wardley Liz Sojasun à 43’05’
16 4 Veniard Gérald Scutum à 44’36’
17 * 22 Rivet Frédéric Novotel Caen à 48’55’
18 97 Rouxel Thomas Défi Mousquetaires à 49’04’
19 9 Pratt Christopher Espoir Crédit Agricole à 50’52’
20 62 Defert Eric Suzuki Automobiles à 51’10’
21 * 72 Biarnes Vincent Côtes d’Armor à 53’36’
22 6 Morvan Gildas Cercle Vert à 58’05’
23 57 Tripon Armel Gedimat à 58’20’
24 * 95 Duprey du Vorsent Thierry Domaine du Mont d’Arbois à 58’27’
25 55 de Broc Bertrand Les Mousquetaires à 01h00’06’
26 30 Emig Marc A.ST Groupe à 01h04’45’
27 31 Pellecuer Laurent Cliptol Sport à 01h05’47’
28 60 Loison Alexis All Mer Inéo Suez à 01h09’07’
29 42 D’Ali Pietro Kappa à 01h10’20’
30 2 Drouglazet Eric Luisina à 01h12’17’
31 * 85 Belloir Aymeric Cap 56 à 01h17’45’
32 * 49 Nicol Jean-Pierre Gavottes à 01h18’03’
33 * 33 Monnet Jean-Charles Degrémont Suez Source de talents à 01h23’46’
34 23 Le Miere Grégoire Basse-Normandie / OTCex Group à 01h24’40’
35 * 77 Nigon Erik AXA Atout Coeur Pour Aides à 01h24’41’
36 * 93 King Nigel Nigel King Yachting à 01h32’50’
37 26 Nagy Robert Théolia à 01h33’53’
38 99 Bougard Patrice Kogane à 01h35’22’
39 14 Bos Christian Belle Ile en Mer à 01h40’35’
40 21 Bulot Jean-François Crédit Mutuel de Normandie - Ville de Caen à 02h04’57’
41 * 66 O’Rian Paul City Jet à 02h07’53’
42 44 Thiercelin Marc Siemens à 02h09’17’
43 47 Da Cruz Antonio-Pedro Baïko à 02h16’35’
44 11 Lebas Christophe Lola La piscine assemblée à 02h24’07’
45 * 69 Bouillard Didier MEDevent à 02h24’55’
46 37 Nabart Laurent Corsica à 02h35’30’
47 * 64 Le Nabour Quentin Votre Nom pour Le Figaro à 02h50’50’
48 * 43 Le Meitour Jean-Philippe Construction Dorso à 04h50’35’
* Bizuth (première participation)
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