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Course modification for final Figaro leg

Posted 3 months, 14 days ago

Course modification for final Figaro leg
www.Sail-Search.com: Following the postponement ashore to the start of the third and final leg of La Solitaire du Figaro race this morning, a modification to the course was announced to the skippers this afternoon. Because of the 40 to 50 knots of wind forecast over the Celtic and Irish Seas on Tuesday, the course will no longer take the fleet up round the Isle of Man, which would be dangerous for the 46 strong fleet of solo sailors. The new course is 501 miles long and will take the fleet 250 miles west of Brittany and back to the finish with a mark south off the isle of Sein. The strong winds predicted for Tuesday would have been dangerous and right over the course the fleet of 46 sailors would have been racing through. “We were in a difficult situation facing a complex building depression whose passage is hard to forecast” explained Race Director Jacques Caraës after the meeting. “These depressions can generate strong, very strong winds from the south west, in the St. George’s Channel on the return down from the Isle of Man and no doubt would have meant finishing the race in Ireland. I have therefore preferred to set a new course that is long and which is still interesting sports wise and that will also get the skippers into l’Aber Wrac’h before the very strong winds hit. Even tough we would have preferred to have this long leg, one that we have been planning and thinking of doing for a long time, you can’t go against nature particularly when it comes down to the safety of the competitors. We are not here to play circus games. It is nature that dictates the law here. The leg, some 500 miles will still be interesting and with lots options to play with.” The new course, 501 miles long takes the fleet to the Brittany buoy, a weather mark 250 miles west of Brest followed by a run south to a cardinal mark off the Isle of Sein and a run up to the finish in L’Aber Wrac’h leaving a number of marks to starboard. Some 25 to 30 knots if westerly wind is forecast for the long beat up to the Brittany Buoy then it is a reach down to Sein followed by a spinnaker run up to the Breton host port. “With this new course I loose the advantage of sailing in home waters. Initially it will be tough to sail up to the new buoy then it should be slightly easier, this does swing back into the favour of those who sail around there and know the area well,” foresees Andy Greenwood, the sole British competitor. “Effectively we will be doing a 500 mile windward-leeward race with a spreader mark.” Considering the weather and modified course, the fleet is expected to arrive in l’Aber Wrac’h by Tuesday the 12th of August, ahead of the next strong depression. Full Story »

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