All four British Artemis Offshore Academy sailors finished Leg 2 of the 2011 Solitaire du Figaro within an hour of each other. The fleet of 46 Figaro boats began arriving in Dún Laoghaire, Ireland this morning (Wednesday, 10/08/11) almost three full days after leaving Caen, France.
The fleet at the start of leg 2 © © Artemis Offshore Academy
Previous 2005 overall winner Jérémie Beyou (BPI) secured victory on the second Leg after two days, 17 hours and 25 minutes. Conditions for Leg 2 were wet and wild upwind for the first three quarters of the race as predicted. The sailors were able to set their spinnakers after the front passed over, speeding up at the end of the race, with the last few miles racing along at speeds of over 15-knots of boat speed – not bad for a 32ft monohull!
For the second leg running, Phil Sharp (The Spirit of Independence) was the highest placed British sailor, finishing in 23rd (1h 16m after the leadr). Sharp managed to stay with the leaders for the majority of the race only slipping back in the final stages of the leg: “It was a hard race,” said Sharp. “It was very testing in certain places but they were actually very exciting and enjoyable conditions. I hit a particularly good set of waves and I was just sitting at 18 knots for about half a minute. Unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable, we’re all insane!”
Phil Sharp being interviewed at the finish © Artemis Offshore Academy
Nigel King (E-Line Orthodontics) and Sam Goodchild (Artemis) were fighting neck-and-neck for much of the leg. In the end King came in 32nd, less than 2 minutes ahead of Goodchild in 33rd. “We had a chat last night, we were close enough to talk to each other!” reported King. “I’ve had a better leg than last leg but I didn’t sail the first eighteen hours very well. I don’t know what’s going on, I lose a lot of time in the first twenty-four hours and then spend the rest of the race trying to figure out how to recover.”
Sam Goodchild had to re-cross the start-line in Caen after being recalled. He fought his way up through the fleet but felt his decision to tack early after the Channel Islands cost him several places. “That was a bad idea, I got my timings wrong,” explained Goodchild. “There were three big tactical decisions, the first two I made were wrong which was disappointing and I think I could have done better in this leg. The third was ok and I made up for a lot of time lost after Land’s End.” Goodchild also suffered damage to both his spinnakers in the closing stages of this leg.
Sam Goodchild sailing at night © Lloyd Images
The harsh reality for the sailors competing in the Solitaire du Figaro for the first time, is that no matter how much training and preparation they undertake, or all the advice they get from experienced sailors, they will inevitably make the wrong decisions, damage equipment, not manage their physical state as well as they could. It is a baptism of fire on the tough road to a successful short-handed, offshore career where mistakes have to be learnt the hard way.
The weather was an important factor for the Artemis Offshore Academy sailors in this leg. The forecast was for strong winds and heavy seas around Barfleur and Cherbourg, followed by a ridge of high pressure that could have become dominant in the Irish Sea. Conrad Humphreys (DMS) finished in 40th place, decided to stay to the right of the fleet to avoid it, but now questions the length of time he stayed there: “I realised I’d made a mistake by not crossing over to the Irish coast early enough but I’m happy. We’ve got here in one piece and I’m still in very close contention with the rest of the pack, so that’s the most important thing. I love Ireland and I’m sure there’s a very good pint of Guiness waiting for me!”
A tired Nigel King © Artemis Offshore Academy
The 46-boat fleet will now stay in Dún Laoghaire until Sunday when they start the longest and penultimate leg of 475 miles to Sables D’Olonne at 12pm.
Solitaire du Figaro Leg 2 Results:
1st BEYOU Jérémie BPI arrived 10/08/2011 at 10:14:16 in a time of 65h25’16”
23rd SHARP Phil The Spirit of Independence + 01h06’45”
32nd KING Nigel E-Line Orthodontics + 01h53’42”
33rd GOODCHILD Sam Artemis + 01h55’25”
40th HUMPHREYS Conrad DMS + 02h05’24”
Rookie Rankings Leg 2:
1st LAGRAVIERE Morgan VENDEE arrived 10/08/2011 at 10:56:15 in a time of 66h07’15”
2nd SHARP Phil The Spirit of Independence + 24’46”
6th GOODCHILD Sam Artemis + 01h13’26”
8th HUMPHREYS Conrad DM
