| Azores: Les Sables-Azores-Les Sables Mini Race: Hardy and Lobato winners in Horta |
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| Tuesday, 08 August 2006 | |
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DBo. & AM: First Minis have finished the first leg of the race Les Sables – The Azores – Les Sables : 1270NM at very high speed, as the winner, Adrien Hardy (Brossard), has an average speed of 6,69 knots on the rhumb line… Regarding the production boats, the top three have arrived in a quarter of an hour and are all in the first ten of the overall ranking ! Unbelievable… Already twelve solo sailors have reached the Horta harbour in the Azores ! Adrien Hardy (Brossard) has crossed the finishing line in front of the marina of Horta (Faial – Azores) as the winner. His average speed is 6,76 knots for the 1 270 miles of this first leg. He did not know about his position in the ranking before arriving in the Azores as he has not received any radio information for a few days. He did not follow a perfect course to get out the Biscay Bay but Adrien Hardy was among the first ten boats off Spain, and most of all he was among the most south of the fleet. When the breeze has turned Northerly and then North easterly 25 -30 knots, the young solo sailor has reached amazing average speeds… The Brossard’s skipper then has slide to the Azores remaining more south than the Slovenian, who has paid it back at the end of course. « I almost crashed in the entry of the harbour ! The wind came in when arriving in Faïal and with the kite up, I had to jibe one last time… I am relatively tired : the rhythm has been very tense since the Cape Finisterre. Our speed has always been more than ten knots… Often twelve and fourteen : I think we have beaten 24 hours records ! It was very good, especially that I have not received SSB information since Spain and I only knew about my position when Andraz Mihelin told me arriving in the Archipelago. Obviously, I am very happy : I was ninth passing the Cape Finisterre and here I am first ! The rhythm was very tough to hang on : I think I am more tired than after all the races I have done before. I have not slept last night and I have slept some three hours per nigh in average since I have passed Spain. I’d rather sleep in the end of the night to favour day steering when I could see the waves. When leaving les Sables d’olonne, we knew what we would face in the Biscay Bay : upwind with strong winds. But after, we thought it would have been light downwind winds and we have faced strong quarter winds… These boats are really impressive : the speed we can reach ! I did not think we could be so fast, 13-14 knots all the time…the sensations are great, it is so great to cumulate so much miles like that. Sometimes, we are at the limits of the boat. We had to find the compromise between speed and control of the boat. That was great !” told us Adrien Hardy at his arrival on the Pontoon in Horta. Andraz Mihelin (Adria Mobil Too) has finished one hour and twenty one minutes later than the winner. The Slovenian had been leading this first leg of the race Les Sables - The Azores - Les Sables since the Cape Finisterre and has only lost ground in favour of Adrien Hardy (Brossard), winner in Horta, those last two days, when the North easterly breeze has decreased and the sea has become easier. It is the first time that a Slovenian is on the podium of one offshore solo race. The third who arrived in Horta is the young skipper Fabien Despres (Soitec), who has learned sailing on the family lobster boat Notre-Dame des Flots, and who has realised a very great race, finishing very fast this first leg of les Sables - The Azores - Les Sables : he realised the course in 7 days, 21 hours 50 minutes and 35 seconds, that is to say two hours after the winner. Behind them, David Sineau (Bretagne Lapins) arrived in fourth position before Isabelle Joschke (Degrémont) and François Salabert (Aréas Assurances). Amazing finishing for the Production boats If several minutes were separating the prototypes, the three first production boats have made the show in front of Horta : one quarter of an hour of difference after eight days of race ! The Portuguese Francisco Lobato has provoked the fiesta arriving before Jean-François Quélen and Antoine Debled. 1 270 miles of race and only few minutes of difference at the finish ! The three leaders in production boats have fight to the last metre for the ranking because they could have seen each other since sunset in the Azores archipelago. An arrival with big kite up, with Easterly to North easterly breeze, flat sea and enthusiast audience, especially when the Portuguese Francisco Lobabo (BPI) could pass his two mates before warding of the Sao Jorge island. « It is great for me : a Portuguese skipper arriving first in the Azores !It is my first year in Mini, my first oceanic race and I really loved it even if I was a bit afraid to be alone on the ocean for several days on a such little boat. And it is not easy to live with so few information. I have broken my bowsprit in the strong winds after Spain but fortunately, I could fix it. And this morning, I was still third in the ranking : I pushed the boat and it is a very great finish…» told us the winner of the Production Boats category. Less than ten minutes after the leader, the skipper from Brest Jean-François Quélen (Galanz) has arrived in great shape, even if his breeze kite is damaged, which can be a handicap for the second leg. As for Antoine Debled (ADD Modules), he has finished only a quarter of an hour after the Portuguese whereas he had electric problems, which made him steer a lot without knowing exactly where the rest of the fleet was. Let’s notice that these three skippers finish ninth, tenth and eleventh of the overall ranking, that is to say that they have been very fast with their production boats, arriving only five hours after the winner in prototypes, Adrien Hardy. Ranking of the first leg in Horta (prototypes) : 1-Adrien Hardy (Brossard) in 7 days 21 hours 41 minutes 40 secondes, 6,69 knots of average speed 2-Andraz Mihelin (Adria Mobil Too) in 7d 23h 05’ 15’’, 01h 23’ 35’’ after the winner 3-Fabien Despres (Soitec) in 7d 23h 42’ 35’’, 02h 00’ 55’’ after the winner 4-David Sineau (Bretagne Lapins) in 8d 00h 17’ 42’’, 2h 36’ 02’’ after the winner 5-Isabelle Joschke (Degrémont) in 8d 01h 04’ 45’’, 3h 23’ 05’’ after the winner 6-François Salabert (Aréas Assurances) in 8d 01h 31’ 16’’, 3h 49’ 36’’ after the winner 7-Kristian Hajnsek (Adria Mobil) in 8d 02h 39’ 25’’, 4h 57’ 45’’ after the winner 8-Nicholas Brennan (Rafiki) in 8d 03h 22’ 02’’, 5h 40’ 22’’ after the winner 9-Andrew Wood (Domosofa.com) in 8d 04h 45’ 30’’, 7h 03’ 50’’ after the winner 10-Olivier Cusin (NégaWatt) in 8d 05h 00’ 07’’, à 07h 18’ 27’’ after the winner 11-Jean Marie Vidal (Jason) in 8d 05h 38’ 13’’, 07h 56’ 33’’ after the winner 12-Jérôme Koch (Meteor) in 8d 08h 50’15’’, 11h 08’ 35’’ after the winner 13-Peter Laureyssens (Ecover) in 8d 12h 07’ 10’’, 14h 25’ 30’’ after the winner 14-Ronan Deshayes (PCO Technologies) in 8d 12h 54’ 25’’, 15h 12’ 45’’ after the winner 15-Yannick Allain (Night Fever) in 8d 13h 15’ 00’’, 15h 33’ 20’’ after the winner 16-Yoann Vadeleau (Owl) in 8d 14h 45’ 45’’, 17h 04’ 05’’ after the winner 17-Mark Bloom (Mini 352) in 8d 15h 39’ 50’’, 17h 58’ 10’’ after the winner Ranking of the first leg in Horta (production boats) : 1-Francisco Lobato (BPI) in 8d 03h 34’ 25’’, 6,49 knots average speed 2-Jean François Quélen (Galanz) in 8d 03h 43’ 46’’, 9’ 21’’ after the winner 3-Antoine Debled (ADD Modules) in 8d 03h 50’ 05’’, 15’ 40’’ after the winner 4-Gerard Marin (Escar l’escala-CN Llanca) in 8d 04h 55’ 36’’, 01h 21’ 11’’ after the winner 5-Thomas Bonnier (architecture élémentaire) in 8d 06h 23’ 32’’, 02h 49’ 07’’ after the winner 6-Vincent Barnaud (STGS.fr) in 8d 06h 39’ 29’’, 03h 05’ 04’’ after the winner 7-Fabien Sellier (Surfrider Foundation) in 8d 10h 26’ 06’’, 06h 51’ 41’’ after the winner 8-Hervé Piveteau (Jules) in 8d 10h 41’ 28’’, 07h 07’ 03’’ after the winner 9-Elodie Riou (KPMG) in 8d 10h 49’ 48’’, 07h15’ 23’’ after the winner 10-Thibault Reinhart (Les blouses roses-Colas) in 8d 13h 38’ 34’’, 10h 04’ 09’’ after the winner 11-Isabelle Magois (Voilerie Quantum) in 8d 15h 29’ 50’’, 11h 55’ 25’’ after the winner 12-Lucas Schröder (Netherlands One) in 8d 16h 36’ 37’’, 13h 02’ 12’’ after the winner 13-Bertrand Castelnérac (Alan France) in 8d 17h 42’ 24’’, 14h 07’ 59’’ after the winner http://www.lessables-lesacores.com |
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 08 August 2006 ) |
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