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Lack of wind forces Race Committee to Shorten first leg of Figaro

Posted 4 months, 7 days ago

Lack of wind forces Race Committee to Shorten first leg of Figaro
www.Sail-Search.com: The light conditions felt over the Bay of Biscay over the past two days have forced the Race Committee and Race Director to come to a unanimous decision to shorten the 450 mile leg from La Rochelle in Vigo by some 130 miles. The 2006 winner, Financo, continues to make gains over his 49 rivals increasing his advantage to nearly 60 miles over last placed Fabrice Amadeo (Aquarelle.com). The decision to shorten the course was announced by Jacques Caraës, the Race Director, over the VHF to the 50 competitors this afternoon at 17:30 local Spanish time. The new finish line is to be set just East of Cape Ortegal in Santa Marta Bay. Security checks will be carried out after the finish line before the skippers motor to the Galician port of Vigo, hosting the first race stopover. Jacques Caraës explains why the race course is shortened: “The reason is simple, with little wind and the current weather forecasts over the whole of the course, the last of the competitors would not have reached the finish before Thursday, which is the start day for the second leg. Together with the Race Committee and the whole Race Office team it made the most sense to use to reduce the course and now is the right time to do so. The finish line will be set just East of Cape Ortegal, a choice which will not benefit one or others on the option taken to the North or South. Basically the first boats should arrive Monday night and then motor to Vigo. The skippers have been informed of this decision. The three official support boats as well as the French Naval Patrol ship assure us that the whole fleet has received the message.” Richard Silvani from Meteo France sheds some light for us over what conditions we should see and how it would affect the competitors: “Over the next twenty four hours we should see wind coming in from the South veering southwest then west with 10 to 15 knots right up to the Spanish coast for the new finish off Cape Ortegal. The wind should then weaken and become variable and prevailing southerly. So Had the race committee not decided to shorten the course” continues Silvani, “the competitors would not have had much time to reach Vigo and recover before the start of the 2nd leg on Friday. By reducing the course, the fleet will gain time on the descent down the coastline of Galicia towards Vigo where conditions are going to be variable and light.” The new ETA for the finish is for “around 00:30 local time (22:30 GMT) in the early hours of Tuesday morning” concludes Silvani. The light conditions experienced over the past twenty-four hours have evolved and the freshening breeze, fifteen to twenty knots, has come in from the South, which means that those well positioned towards the front of the fleet, will make the most gains. The wind is due to then veer to the Southwest, and then west, before weakening. This is not going to make life any easier for those towards the back end of the fleet. The gains Nicolas Troussel has made throughout the day are as a result of getting to this breeze first and his advantage only increases on each position report. Christian Bos on Region Midi Pyrénées trails by just over 10 miles in second place and Frederic Duthil (Distinxion Automobiles) in third 15.9 miles behind. The gaps are then significant with half the fleet within 30 miles of the leader and the second half spread out 57 miles behind. Full Story »

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