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Plus de FigaroWords from the Winners in Dingle
14-08-2009
After the extraordinary third leg finish last night in Dingle Bay, with 47 of the 52 boat fleet arriving in 42 minutes, here are the first thoughts from the top three skippers as they stepped ashore.
Jérémie Beyou (Bernard Paoli), winner of leg 3 : “a marathon that finished in a sprint”
It was like having a new start line set up at the mouth of Dingle Bay ! I’ve won, I’m pleased, though obviously I would have preferred the manner of winning to be more like that of the last leg at St. Gilles Croix-de-Vie. I can’t have heard my son Achille just before the start when he said “Dad, you’ve got to stop winning, let someone else have a turn”… I guess there are times you shouldn’t listen to your kids ! I slept well this afternoon, so I would be able to think clearly at the finish, there’s always the possibility that it could be like this here, all bunched together in a flat calm, and you have to work a bit to come out ahead. I’ve lost plenty of legs that have finished like this so I’m very happy to take this win, it makes up for all the times I’ve been on the receiving end ! I pulled a nice move at the finish line, I’ve won back a few minutes from Nicolas Lunven in the overall ranking and that’s always worth having. Physically this leg was very tiring, I’m wiped out, just completely exhausted. When it came down to the very end, between Suzuki Automobiles and Koné Elevators, whoever managed to keep their spinnaker filled and to pinch the others’ wind was going to win… my spinnaker stayed up, and that was that ! At the same time it’s fairly representative of La Solitaire: a marathon that finishes in a sprint in flat calm. Really anything could happen. The game is still wide open for the last leg. Now I need to get some proper rest, to be on the attack for the last passage to Dieppe.”
Thierry Chabagny (Suzuki Automobiles) 2nd on the leg : “Dingle Bay has been kind to me”
“I’ve just crossed the finish line, and yes, I have a smile on my face ! A few hundred metres from the line I was ideally positioned, but I have to admit, it was a bit unplanned ! At the same time, it’s the first time that Dingle Bay has been kind to me, I wouldn’t have dared hope for it. The last six hours in the flat calm were pretty torturous ! The bay was completely still, every time we come here it all goes haywire it seems, but this time it’s been to my advantage - so it’s all for the better ! There’s been a whole lot of shuffling of the pack on this leg. For Armel Le Cleac’h and Antoine Koch who have sailed amazingly I think it’s pretty tough, they deserved better. Fortunately they haven’t lost any time. For my part, maybe I’ve gained a little on one or two boats in the over-all rankings, but I don’t really know yet as it’s so tight. But it’s clear that we can set the counters back to zero for the last leg to Dieppe.”
Eric Péron (Skipper Macif), 3rd on the leg : « my best result on La Solitaire »
I suppose I’m rather the surprise guest on the podium. It was a bit of a lottery in the bay, you just had to stay with it right to the end. For this leg, you just had to keep pressing on, trimming the sails, getting some rest. I didn’t want to go off at a tangent to try different options. I’m happy, it’s my best result on La Solitaire !
Yes, I was able to think clearly, I said to myself, I’m not letting up, and anyway, when the adrenaline is flowing when all’s going well, the right mental attitude just follows.
This leg wasn’t straightforward. Last night I didn’t know it was going to go east, I’d put a lot of effort into getting over to the west, I couldn’t make out what was going on with the weather. It cost me dear: I dropped seven miles in the end, but that’s fixed now, it’s brilliant. Here I am on the third step of the podium. I could have won, but it was difficult. I was fighting it out with
Thierry [Chabagny] and in the end Jérémie [Beyou] got past. But 1.5 miles from the finish you just didn’t know who was in the lead, there was a line of 10 boats, then a little lift came along and Jérémie picked it up first.”
It was like having a new start line set up at the mouth of Dingle Bay ! I’ve won, I’m pleased, though obviously I would have preferred the manner of winning to be more like that of the last leg at St. Gilles Croix-de-Vie. I can’t have heard my son Achille just before the start when he said “Dad, you’ve got to stop winning, let someone else have a turn”… I guess there are times you shouldn’t listen to your kids ! I slept well this afternoon, so I would be able to think clearly at the finish, there’s always the possibility that it could be like this here, all bunched together in a flat calm, and you have to work a bit to come out ahead. I’ve lost plenty of legs that have finished like this so I’m very happy to take this win, it makes up for all the times I’ve been on the receiving end ! I pulled a nice move at the finish line, I’ve won back a few minutes from Nicolas Lunven in the overall ranking and that’s always worth having. Physically this leg was very tiring, I’m wiped out, just completely exhausted. When it came down to the very end, between Suzuki Automobiles and Koné Elevators, whoever managed to keep their spinnaker filled and to pinch the others’ wind was going to win… my spinnaker stayed up, and that was that ! At the same time it’s fairly representative of La Solitaire: a marathon that finishes in a sprint in flat calm. Really anything could happen. The game is still wide open for the last leg. Now I need to get some proper rest, to be on the attack for the last passage to Dieppe.”
Thierry Chabagny (Suzuki Automobiles) 2nd on the leg : “Dingle Bay has been kind to me”
“I’ve just crossed the finish line, and yes, I have a smile on my face ! A few hundred metres from the line I was ideally positioned, but I have to admit, it was a bit unplanned ! At the same time, it’s the first time that Dingle Bay has been kind to me, I wouldn’t have dared hope for it. The last six hours in the flat calm were pretty torturous ! The bay was completely still, every time we come here it all goes haywire it seems, but this time it’s been to my advantage - so it’s all for the better ! There’s been a whole lot of shuffling of the pack on this leg. For Armel Le Cleac’h and Antoine Koch who have sailed amazingly I think it’s pretty tough, they deserved better. Fortunately they haven’t lost any time. For my part, maybe I’ve gained a little on one or two boats in the over-all rankings, but I don’t really know yet as it’s so tight. But it’s clear that we can set the counters back to zero for the last leg to Dieppe.”
Eric Péron (Skipper Macif), 3rd on the leg : « my best result on La Solitaire »
I suppose I’m rather the surprise guest on the podium. It was a bit of a lottery in the bay, you just had to stay with it right to the end. For this leg, you just had to keep pressing on, trimming the sails, getting some rest. I didn’t want to go off at a tangent to try different options. I’m happy, it’s my best result on La Solitaire !
Yes, I was able to think clearly, I said to myself, I’m not letting up, and anyway, when the adrenaline is flowing when all’s going well, the right mental attitude just follows.
This leg wasn’t straightforward. Last night I didn’t know it was going to go east, I’d put a lot of effort into getting over to the west, I couldn’t make out what was going on with the weather. It cost me dear: I dropped seven miles in the end, but that’s fixed now, it’s brilliant. Here I am on the third step of the podium. I could have won, but it was difficult. I was fighting it out with
Thierry [Chabagny] and in the end Jérémie [Beyou] got past. But 1.5 miles from the finish you just didn’t know who was in the lead, there was a line of 10 boats, then a little lift came along and Jérémie picked it up first.”
