Third and last event of the 2010 French singlehanded offshore championship, the Cap Istanbul race will start on Sunday 19 September. Twenty-four skippers will race from Hyères (France) to Istanbul (Turkey) via Ragusa (Sicily), Athens (Greece), Didim (Turkey) and Bozcaada (Turkey).



The Figaro skippers certainly have a challenging end to the season with 1590 nautical miles to cover on the tricky Mediterranean, Known for its tendency to ‘see red’ without warning, the Med is a mentally challenging place to race in solo mode. Prolonged periods of extremely light airs, that force skippers to stay at the helm for very long periods, can be immediately followed by a force 7 gale and associated choppy seas.

Addressing this issue, race director Jacques Caraës explains: “We have planned gates along the course that will enable us to adapt the race to the weather conditions and envisage, if necessary, shorten the legs. But we will always favour sporting equity and the way we have planned things allows us to avoid penalising any skipper who might take a radical option.”

The race begins with two long offshore legs (Hyères / Ragusa -590 miles and Ragusa / Athens - 520 miles), that will be similar to the Solitaire du Figaro in terms of duration and sleep management. The legs then gradually become shorter with arguably less major tactical options to play with. Nevertheless, and given the many landmark-induced local effects (land, islands, etc), choosing to play it close to the rocks or staying a couple of miles offshore will have a crucial impact on the final sections. 

Traditionally, the Cap Istanbul involves a ‘cruising’ passage in the Dardanelles Strait which separates Europe (the Galipoli peninsula) from mainland Asia. For safety reasons, given the density of maritime traffic and the narrowness of the strait, skippers are required to motor under escort for that part of the course before resuming racing in the Sea of Marmara from Galipoli to the finish line in Istanbul.

We caught up with Jonny as he was packing to set off for France: “It’s the last event and I’m looking forward to it, I’m itching to get back on my Figaro. It’s only been just over three weeks since we finished the Solitaire and since then I’ve raced the Artemis Ocean Racing IMOCA 60’ around Britain and Ireland, but still I’m fully pumped-up for the Cap Istanbul.

“I’ve sailed in that region before but it was a very long time ago, so I’m happy to go back there. That being said it’s going to be full-on as the Mediterranean can be difficult to read and brutal in its changes of weather. Training at the CEM in La Grande Motte allowed me to experience this - it’s amazing how the wind can go from 5 to 40 knots so suddenly! You can actually see the line of breeze just before it hits you.

“I’m off to La Grande Motte where Nicolas Bérenger, winner of the last Cap Istanbul and CEM member, will share his experience and insights on weather so that will prove really useful. As far as the course is concerned, there is a mix of long offshore and short ‘coastal’ legs, so I will have to adopt different tactics in terms of rest management. But overall I expect the race to be a close combat affair, as is always the case in this class.”

For a full list of Cap Istanbul entries, go to www.capistanbul.com/en/skippers.asp

Cap Istanbul in dates and figures

• Hyères/TPM Trophy (Prologue)
Friday, September 17, 2010

• Leg 1 : Hyères / Ragusa, 590 miles
Start: Sunday, September 19, 2010
Finish: Thursday, September 23, 2010

• Leg 2 : Ragusa / Athens, 520 miles
Start: Sunday, September 26, 2010
Finish: Friday, October 01, 2010

• Leg 3: Athens / Didim, 180 miles
Start: Monday, October 04, 2010
Finish: Wednesday, October 06, 2010

• Leg 4 : Didim / Bozcaada, 190 miles
Start: Friday, October 08, 2010
Finish: Sunday, October 10, 2010

• Passage of the fleet through the Dardanelles Strait: Tuesday, October 12, 2010

• Leg 5: Gallipoli / Istanbul, 110 miles
Start: Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Finish: Wednesday, October 13, 2010