4th leg - Péan wins… 20 years later !

Absolutely crazy final leg from Dingle in Ireland, a race full of ups and downs, with ever-changing groups ending up in an extraordinary last night off Saint Nazaire ! There’s no point counting the number of skippers who have led the fleet over the last 500 miles of the course. But there you have it, yesterday at around 5 o’clock in the evening, Lionel Péan pulled away from the pack after having picked up a thermal breeze along the Breton coast. One of the "old boys" coming back to La Solitaire, then led a small group towards the finishing line which would deliver them from the final leg marked by a highly capricious winds. In the end, Péan sneaked into the lead, stealing line honours from the young more recent arrivals. At the age of 46, the winner of the 1985-86 Whitbread wins his 2^nd Solitaire, an event which he already won in 1983 when he won all three legs. Erwan Tabarly (Thales) and Romain Attanasio (Port Trébeurden) are second and third in this final leg. Just 3’48’’ seconds separate the first three boats at the end of this final, which will go down in the race’s history as having produced winners from a range of backgrounds and particularly for having given the first two overall leaders such a tough time.

 Lionel Péan (Nouvel Observateur) : « I’m really happy ! It’s true that I started late on in the day and had a tough time in the beginning. But bit by bit, I got the hang of it. On the 3rd leg, I managed to keep up. On this final leg, I was playing for the match. There was the opportunity to do so. I grabbed the chance and got on with it ! I haven’t sailed the Solitaire for eleven years. The fact that I’ve been able to shake some of the dust off pretty quickly will encourage me to return having prepared things properly beforehand. »

Overall rankings - Le Cléach’… overall winner for just 13 seconds !

Never before in the 34 years of the race has such a minute gap separated two skippers at the end of La Solitaire. 13 seconds after four legs covering 1820 miles (4000 Km), from the Bay of Biscay, the Channel and the Irish Sea - so little but oh such much. An astonishing end to this edition not unlike any others which have preceded it, characterised by persistant light winds ! Time stood still last night off Saint Nazaire for the two skippers fighting for overall honours. Armel Le Cléac’h and Alain Gautier finished 14th and 17th respectively after having taken turns to hold the lead in this leg where both had everything to fight for. At the start in Ireland, the two were 19 minutes apart in the overall rankings, and it was clear to see that the final would be a close match between these two sailors who are always in the best positions. A close thing is one way of saying it, but that there should be just 13 seconds after 327h08’17’’ of hard-fought racing... This edition will long remain in everyone’s memory, not least for being the one to have propelled Armel - at the age of 26 - into the realms of the greatest talents of French sailing.

 Armel Le Cléac’h (Créaline) : " What a stressful finish. I knew it was a close thing with Alain. Once I’d crossed the line, I watched the clock to see how things were going, and the more I waited, the worse it got ! I didn’t make a note of the exact time so that I wouldn’t put myself under too much presure. Michel Desjoyeaux told me over the VHF that I had in fact won by just 13 seconds. 13 secondes… it’s nothing ! Just one tack at the end… after four legs, it’s truly minute ! Alain deserved to win as much as I did. Both of us fought tooth and nail. I naturally share this win with Alain. If I’d been told I’d win this Solitaire a month ago, I’d have signed anything straight away. It’s brilliant. La Solitaire is a difficult race. You need to have a bit of success to win ad I got through to the end. A dream come true… »

 Alain Gautier (Foncia) : "I tried to sail as fast as possible to keep the gap right down, but in fact, I didn’t sail that well. I screwed up ! It’s a shame to finish a final leg that way, as I’d been in the match right the way through and on the last day I made a small mistake - for which I paid dearly ! I wanted to sail the same way I had throughout the whole race, bearing in mind what would give a good result. But I didn’t take Armel into account as much as I ought to have done. Never mind, that’ the way the cookie crumbles... Maybe it’s fatigue. I didn’t sleep enough but it’s difficult to sleep with unsteady winds."

• Classement Général au temps Figaro

 Cl. Skipper Bateau Temps
 1 LE CLEAC’H Armel Créaline en 327h08’19’’
 2 GAUTIER Alain Foncia à 13’’
 3 DESJOYEAUX Michel Géant à 1h26’17’’
 4 BIDEGORRY Pascal Région Aquitaine à 1h49’39’’
 5 EMIG Marc Espoir Total Course au Large à 1h56’32’’
 6 PEYRON Loïck Fujifilm à 2h24’52’’
 7 THIERCELIN Marc Bermudes à 2h28’58’’
 8 PELLECUER Laurent Cliptol Sport à 2h29’21’’
 9 TABARLY Erwan Thalès à 3h27’08’’
 10 DROUGLAZET Eric David Olivier à 3h37’10’’
 11 BEYOU Jérémie Delta Dore à 3h41’13’’
 12 CAUDRELIER Charles Bostik Findley à 3h45’57’’
 13 ELIES Yann Groupe Générali Assurances à 3h50’01’’
 14 MORVAN Gildas Cercle Vert à 3h52’53’’
 15 ATTANASIO Romain Port Trebeurden à 3h54’43’’
 16 PEAN Lionel Nouvel Observateur à 4h22’42’’
 17 ESCOFFIER F.Y. Crêpes Whaou ! à 4h31’35’’
 18 DE PAVANT Christophe Crash Bandicoot à 4h48’39’’
 19 DAVIES Samantha Skandia à 4h59’01’’
 20 CHIORRI Gilles 32 01 Météo Consult Groupe Prosodie à 5h05’32’’
 21 ARTAUD Christophe Petits Petons à 5h51’29’’
 22 GRIMONT Damien Soletanche-Bachy à 6h21’48’’
 23 TOULORGE Alexandre Ville de Cherbourg - Crédit Mutuel à 6h23’45’’
 24 LE BLEVEC Yves Rêve de Grand-Actual Intérim à 6h30’59’’
 25 GUERIN Ronan Amandine & Chérie à 6h52’45’’
 26 SEVAUX Stéphane Sarthe à 7h11’23’’
 27 MOUREN Jean-Paul Marseille Entreprises à 7h23’30’’
 28 BAKKER Sander Egeria à 7h28’16’’
 29 CHABAGNY Thierry Petit Navire Le Bon Goût du Large à 7h29’09’’
 30 RIOU Gwenaël Espoir Crédit Agricole à 7h30’08’’
 31 BOISSIERES Arnaud MBD Design - Sorelec à 8h08’58’’
 32 BOUGARD Patrice Kogane à 8h15’30’’
 33 GREGOIRE Jeanne Skipper AG2R à 8h29’15’’
 34 PETIT Benoit Défi Santé Voile à 9h00’22’’
 35 DUPONT Daniel Art Immobilier Construction à 10h12’37’’
 36 PILAT Eric Altaventure-SNSM à 14h36’36’’
 37 BOS Christian Raynal et Roquelaure à 14h39’35’’
 38 ALFARO Amaiur Eki à 15h41’09’’
 39 BOUVET Christophe Savoy Open Race Télé Monte Carlo à 17h42’07’’
 40 LEBRETON Eric CYP à 18h33’46’’
 41 AGUSTA Corrado Sector Sport Watches à 20h39’15’’
 42 BASURKO Unai Bizkaia à 38h18’13’’