The Irishman Tom Dolan (Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan), having passed the Sisargas Islands, was heading towards Royan. 370 miles were to be swallowed up.
The Sisargas Islands, seabird airfields located in the north of the sinister Death Coast, were the obligatory passage this Monday for the 36 competitors of the 55e edition of the Solitaire du Figaro. Tom Dolan (Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan), the flying Irishman, was the first to round them at 3:19 p.m., his spinnaker returning to its well. 18 minutes later, he was followed by Alexis Thomas (Wings of the Ocean). Gaston Morvan (Région Bretagne-CMB Performance), in his stern at 29 minutes.
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This passage of the intermediate sprint awarded 5, 3 and 1 minutes to the first three. The rest of the troop led by Charlotte Yven (Skipper Macif 2023) was going to greet the rocks with a significant and exponential gap. Élodie Bonafous (Quéguiner-La Vie en Rose) for example, she who had seen a whale pass near her frail skiff, was in 11e position more than 10 miles behind. And what about the leader of the provisional general classification, Basile Bourgnon (Edenred) relegated to more than 15 miles. Unable to do so, but from the start, he had closed the stable once the horses had fled. Camille Bertel (Cap Ingelec) bringing up the rear almost 30 miles behind
On this second leg, 150 miles have been covered since the start from Gijón on Sunday afternoon. Tom Dolan was light-hearted before greeting the Spanish islets: “The wind has calmed down and the sea has picked up, it’s a bit annoying because the boat is moving in all directions. So there’s work to do. Morale is at its best. I hope that the passage of the islands will go well and that there will be no buffers. I’m ready to set off full throttle towards Royan. We’ll have to get away from the Spanish coast to find clear wind by heading offshore. Also to look for a bit more curvature in the ridge. Then, we’ll have to listen carefully to the weather forecast and study it carefully for the final arrival. I’m not going to look in the rearview mirror. Obviously, I’m going to control my opponents but I have to look ahead. I’m going to eat well after the islands. It will be a little gift to myself.”
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Gaston Morvan, a fine tactician, had recovered during the passage of the low pressure front early this morning: “I initially had the idea of getting as far away from the Spanish coast as possible. At first, it wasn’t great and it finally changed in the right direction. The wind came in for me and I made progress all night faster than the others. Coming back to the two boats that had set off. The sea is huge and cross and it’s hard to make the boat move forward. But for the moment, everything is going well under spinnaker. I managed to take 5-minute naps even though you have to be at the helm. You can see the difference when the skippers are at the helm, the autopilot not having the same performance. But I’m happy to be a little ahead with significant gaps behind. But the road is still long, especially since the climb back up won’t be easy. With different trajectories for those who will try to come back.”
The weather conditions for the crossing of the Bay of Biscay from west to east predict a prevailing northwesterly wind with an average of 15 knots. The first competitors are thus expected to arrive in front of the port of Royan on Wednesday early afternoon.
