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Figaro Start Postponed

Posted 4 months, 5 days ago

Figaro Start Postponed
www.Sail-Search.com: The Race Director of La Soltiare du Figaro announced this afternoon, a postponement to the start of the second leg of the race, 590 miles from Vigo to Cherbourg in France. The start, initially to be given on Thursday 31st at 16:00, is now set for Friday at 10:00. The decision was taken in order to give the sailors time enough to recover from a very gruelling first leg followed by a 130-mile delivery trip to Vigo in states of exhaustion. The first boats reached the Galician port of Vigo last night and the last twenty-four hours later. In the best case, some of the sailors would have had less than 24 hours to recover whilst those who came in last would have had their stay reduced to a very short night in a hotel bed. Not enough, according to the Race Doctor, Jean Yves Chauve. “Leaving after just 24-hours would not have been enough. The risk being that the skippers would just crumble on the second leg upon reaching Ushant. There is an immediate tiredness that one can try and compensate for, however there is also a delayed tiredness that takes much longer to recover from. It is no coincidence that in certain professions, like airline pilots for example, you get long recovery periods. Catching up on sleep and the capacity to recuperate is very different for each person. 73 hours of sleep divided up, like the length of this first leg, just can’t be recovered in only one night.” Whilst most of the sailors where prepared for the short stop over in Spain, the decision taken by the Race Director and his team is one that is measured and makes sense. It is also one that calms any worries the skippers felt this morning when they arrived exhausted to the pontoon. The main worry the delay could cause for the organisers in terms of the weather as a light front is due to come in. All things aside, Race Director Jacques Caraës, was reassuring: “When you look at the weather files for Friday, we should be in a light weather system with some 8 to 10 knots of West, North West wind. It is enough for a nice start. The first twelve hours or so will need careful handling before the breeze picks up with a front coming in from the South West which will then allow the competitors to head on a direct course for Cherbourg.” Because of the delayed start, “we have decided to not start deep into the Bay of Vigo, as would normally be the case, but set the line further out”, continues Caraës. “This should give the competitors a chance to get off quickly and have a nice race. It was not an easy decision to make, but it is quite simple, taking into account two essential factors, that of lack of sleep, recuperation time, which means security and then the weather. We have found a good middle point to ensure for a good race the day after tomorrow” continued Jacques. “The race start will be quite simple: one line, probably and offset mark and then they head for the thermal breeze to get up to the North of Spain and then jump on to a westerly breeze that will take them towards Cherbourg. “It is just a matter of what makes sense,” concludes Caraës. The three boats that suffered damage on the delivery trip, Grégoire Le Mière (OTCEx Group), Alexis Loison (Allmer Ineo GDF Suez) and Christophe Lebas (Lola) have managed to make repairs and should be ready for the Friday morning start. Full Story »

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