Having started badly when the fleet left Coruna, early on the line and the only boat to receive an individual recall, the 33 year-old Breton skipper made a meteoric rise through the fleet on this drag race across the Bay of Biscay. Having consistently followed a more westerly route, well above the theoretical direct route, Beyou was first to benefit from each reinforcement of the north-westerly breeze, and while boat speeds were remarkably similar across the fleet on the 300 mile, single-tack upwind beat, Beyou was able to conserve the fraction-of-a-knot advantages which distinguish the best Figaro sailors from the merely very good. On these long straight legs – known to the French as “de sangliers” in reference to the aggressive charges of wild boar – courses are much the same, and with options for playing weather strategies limited they become a pure search for speed, where even the merest detail cannot be neglected.

Having taken the lead at the 1600 position report yesterday, he held onto it to take the GMF Assurance prize for the first to round the turning mark off St. Nazaire, though sorely pressed by Nicolas Lunven (CGPI), a mere 11 minutes behind. He then played a cool hand for the last 38 miles running under spinnaker from the mouth of the Loire estuary down to St. Gilles Croix-de-Vie. By 18H37 he was at Ile d’Yeu and turned left for the line. At 20H20 it was all over.

It would seem that this part of France, the Vendée region, is lucky for Beyou. In 2005, under similar conditions, he secured his first leg victory at Port Bourgenay, and in doing so won the event outright. That was his ninth participation in this gruelling series. The intervening years have seen a less fruitful foray into the world of IMOCA Open 60s, with retirements in the Barcelona World Race and the Vendée Globe, so this successful return to his old stamping ground must be all the sweeter.

Also celebrating tonight will be Nicolas Lunven (CGPI), who once again takes second place in the leg finish, as in Coruna, and whose cumulative time now allows him to take the top spot overall. This edition marks only his third participation in the event – he was best rookie in 2007 and now continues to carve out the path of a rising star. Success in the Figaro, and second places in particular seem to run in the Lunven family, with father Bruno and uncle Dominique runners up in the 1973 and 1974 editions respectively. He needed every ounce of his talent to hold off the repeated attacks of Thierry Chabagny (Suzuki Automobiles) and Nicolas Troussel (Crédit Mutuel de Bretagne) in the final miles. Chabagny finally took thitd place, a mere 43 seconds after Lunven, and in fact no less than 40 of the 52 boat fleet finished within 1 hour and 5 minutes of Beyou. At the mid-point of the event the suspense remains intact.