Onboard Express
A small stormy mass redistributed the cards early Wednesday evening. A new upheaval was needed to give this 588-mile stage between Kinsale and the Bay of Morlaix even more spice. Gaston Morvan (Région Bretagne-CMB Performance), then in the lead following a judicious choice passing the DST Smalls, with a lead of 3.4 miles over Élodie Bonafous (Quéguiner-La Vie en Rose), was blandly heading towards the extreme southwestern tip of England when a dark mass came to cover his hopes.
Oh rage, oh despair. His lead then melted like snow under the sun. Emberlified near the cliffs, the current against him, he saw a number of competitors pass under his nose. Corentin Horeau setting the tempo with an insolent vein of wind. Behind him, we also lengthened the stride and Gaston Morvan was literally walked on.
Around 6 a.m. this morning, Basile Bourgnon (Edenred), second in the provisional classification of the stage, explained the situation: “I promised you my little plans two days ago. It took patience, but I knew it was going to stop at Land’s End. I didn’t think it was going to pay off so well for me crossing the fleet in the calm to find myself in the lead with Corentin. But it’s easier when you come from behind, you see the little friends who are arrested, you zigzag between two puffs. I think I negotiated the counter-current very close to the coast better. I made myself a few boats. It was motivating. It allowed me to continue doing small gybes in light airs. I found myself in front quite quickly, when I was a long way behind. But that’s the Figaro, It’s all the way!”
The young sailor, participating in his second Solitaire, shows a placid maturity from the height of his 21 years: “I am quite amazed at myself, in the sense that I have been hyperpatient. I had a huge delay, but it’s a race where I enjoy myself. I try options, I attacked twice quite hard. It didn’t work both times. But I waited. And being patient is good. The sixty-mile home stretch was going to be special: “Currently, we have a wind of 12 knots from the south-east, which prevents us from making the direct course. We know that the wind will not be very strong, and regular. And approaching the Breton coast, it will be the neuneu fair once again. So we will have to stay focused. The fact that there is no sea at all allows the autopilot to steer very well, as well as us. This gives us time to rest. So it’s going well, even very well. We should arrive in Roscoff at the beginning of the afternoon if all goes well or at the beginning of the evening if there is calm.
Benoît Tuduri (CAPSO En Cavale), once again in the lead group of the flower parade and in fourth position at the 8 a.m. clock, was also rather motivated: “Before Land’s End, I found small passages that went well to position myself well in relation to the current. I stumbled at the same time as Gaston and Corentin came back to me. It was a bit haphazard to find the right laughing stock. Scenarios hard on the nerves, we have known the whole round. We take it upon ourselves and we move forward. I think I’m well positioned and I’m on the attack. We will see on the finish line where we will be. The arrival at the Astan buoy, west of the island of Batz, should be judged in the middle of the afternoon of this Thursday.
