Sunday, June 16, 2019
Figaro 3 - La Solitaire - Baie de Morlaix FRA - Leg 3 - Start at 13h UTC today
The start to leg 3 of the Solitaire will be given in Roscoff FRA today at 13h UTC. Light winds and a strong tide current will make the situation difficult. The course leads across the British Channel to the Irish South Course and back over 450nm. The preview and the race tracker.
Tomorrow afternoon, the start to leg 3 of the Figaro Solitaire will be given on Morlaix Bay FRA. The course over 450nm goes to the Fastnet Rock South of Ireland and back. 
As reported yesterday, the 88-Foot Max 'Rambler 88' of George David USA with Brad Butterworth NZL as tactician took the line honors on the 
After 2 days and 22 hours, Adrien Hardy FRA crossed the finish line of the Figaro Soltaire leg two in Northern Brittany FRA 5 minutes ahead of the leg one winner Yoann Richomme FRA who extended his overall lead to over 2 hours. The Figaro 3 fleet was again closely packed with the ranks 2 to 6 separated by 30 minutes only. Pierre Leboucher FRA and Armel Le Cléac'h FRA followed on the ranks 2 and 3. The best woman 
A cruising yacht in distress in the heavy storm over the Bay of Biscay on Whitsun Saturday North of La Coruna was rescued by the Spanish Coast Guard. The five person crew was lifted of the yacht by helicopter, an action filmed with a helmet camera. The 
The 41 solo skippers still in the race have been approaching the final way point on the most western point of Brittany this morning UTC, before returning to the port of call off Morlaix FRA. 64nm were left for the leading Yoann Richomme FRA. On rank 2 with a 2,6nm backlog followed Xavier Macaire FRA, another mile back was the Vendée Globe winner Armel Le Cléac'h on 3rd. The race is extremely close as the first 20 are within 10nm only. The best women Justine Mettraux SUI on rank 14 was 8,8nm behind the leader. 
The remaining 38 of the originally started 46 Figaro 3 solo skippers have passed the most south-western point of England yesterday and are now chasing along the coast direction Cowes GBR in fresh winds around 35kn. The leg one winner Yoann Richomme FRA had taken the lead this morning UTC, 4nm ahead of Armel Le Cléac'h FRA. Well positioned was again the first woman Justine Mettraux SUI on rank 13. With a 10nm backlog on the leader, she is much ahead of the offshore elite skippers and Vendée Globe winners Michel Desjoyeaux FRA (rank 24), Yann Eliès FRA (rank 26) or Loïck Peyron FRA (rank 27). 
45 solo skippers started yesterday at 17h UTC in Kinsale IRL to leg 2 of the 2019 Figaro 3 Solitaire. A storm alert for Irish Sea prompted Race Mangement to slightly modify the course and send the fleet directly to the English South Coast up to Cowes and from there back to France, 535nm in total. 
The start to leg 2 of the Figaro 3 Solitaire, the longest one with 615nm, will be given in Ireland today at 17h UTC. The fleet will probably sail in a close pack as crossing the Irish Sea will not offer too many tactical options. Yoanne Richomme FRA leads overall just one minute ahead of Tom Laperche FRA. The frist 14 are within only one hour. 
Already tomorrow Sunday morning, the start will be given to leg 2 of the Solitaire leading from Kinsale IRL over 615nm across the Irish Sea to the Isle of Man and back to Brittany with Baie de Morlaix as port of call. The surprise man of leg 1 was Tom Laperche FRA, age 21, sailing for victory in his first Solitaire participation. Finishing 2nd, he was only 1 minute behind. The 
The finish of the Figaro 3 Solitaire leg 1 in Kingsdale IRL was very close yesterday, as - after five days underway - the advantage of the winner Yoann Richomme FRA on Tom Laperche FRA was only 73 seconds. Pierre Leboucher FRA 3 finished another 2 minutes behind on 3rd. Die Vendée-Globe-Champions moved up in the ranks toward the end of leg 1: Loick Peron FRA finished 6th, Michel Desjoyeaux FRA 8th, Armel Le Cléac'h FRA 11th and Alan Gautier FRA 13th. Just one rank back on 14th followed the first woman 
The 46 Figaro 3 Solo Skippers will be rounding the Fastnet Rock this morning UTC to veer direction finish of leg 1 in Kingsdale IRL a short distance away. 82nm were left for the leader Pierre Leboucher FRA (former 49er sailor) this morning UTC. Only 0,1nm behind followed Yoann Richomme FRA on 2nd, Tom Laperche FRA on 3rd was 0,4nm back. The best-ranked of the offshore celebrities was Loîck Peyron FRA on rank 7. The best-ranked woman Justine Mettraux SUI advanced on rank 12 with an 8nm backlog on the leader.
Many position changes occurred in the past 24 hours on the course to the Fastnet Rock south of Ireland in the light and unconstant winds. Alain Gautier FRA was the leader this morning 3nm ahead of Pierre Leboucher FRA. Another mile behind followed Armel Le Cléac'h FRA on rank 3. The best-ranked woman 
