By Thomas Campion — La Solitaire du Figaro
The pecking order has shifted once again on this third and final leg of the Solitaire du Figaro Paprec. After a hard-fought day marked by fickle winds and multiple coastal tacks, Tom Dolan (Kingspan) has retaken the lead off the Île d’Oléron. The Irishman is currently steering a fleet that continues to push towards the waters off Sein in still-modest conditions. With just a handful of knots in the breeze, the Figaros are grinding along at a measured pace, but the situation should pick up in the coming hours. The forecast models are calling for a gradual strengthening of the wind, which should give the skippers better conditions to push harder and try to make something stick. The first sign of this pressure building: the fleet is starting to string out. By mid-afternoon, roughly twelve miles separated the leaders from the back markers—a gap that’s hardly decisive at this stage of the leg. In a race where every weather shift can reshuffle the deck, positions remain fragile and gaps can flip in a heartbeat. After several days of intense racing, nobody looks capable of delivering a knockout blow just yet. Dolan may have the advantage, but it’s all-out warfare in his wake. Running a slightly more easterly line, Alexis Thomas (Wings of the Ocean), Hugo Dhallenne (Skipper Macif 2025), Laure Galley (Hauterive) and Eliaz Morineau (Demain sans HPV) are holding their own. Just behind the Irishman, Loïs Berrehar (Banque Populaire) is making up ground nicely. Further back, Nicolas Lunven (PRB) is keeping a watching brief and continuing to stamp his authority on this Solitaire.
On the water, the approaching front is unmistakable. A massive cloud mass looms over the northwest horizon, already darkening an already brooding sky. Yoann Richomme, the Paprec race director, offers his take: “I reckon the sailors got some kip last night, so they should be feeling reasonably fresh. They’re going to get some proper wind coming in as we head back towards Brittany and Île-de-Sein. For now it’s pretty straightforward, so there aren’t many calls to make. The key will be nailing the sail changes and getting them done cleanly so nobody loses ground. More importantly, they’ll need to pick the right track coming out of Baie-de-l’Audierne and then down the south Brittany coast. There’s options between hugging the shore between Groix and the Glénan Islands, going inside the Glénan and following the coast through Penmarc’h to Audierne, or heading further out to sea. That could throw up some pretty interesting tactical variations.”
As the wind fills in and the fleet finds more speed, this final leg could well shift up a gear—with all the attacks, regroupings and lead changes that brings. This race is anyone’s for the taking.
Originally published in French by La Solitaire du Figaro.
