La Taberna del Puerto

[Ocell (3NY)]

They may hold numerous singlehanded races as well as the AG2R two handed race across the Atlantic, but the Trophee BPE which started today is the Figaro class' first singlehanded race across the pond.
The course for this event goes fro St Nazaire on France's Atlantic coast bound for Cienfuegos on the south side of Cuba, en route leaving the Azores island of Flores to starboard to keep the boats from straying too far north. The course distance is 4,265 miles - substantially furrther than the AG2R.

Because of the ambitious nature of this race, the entry list for the Trophee BPE is modest in size - with just 12 boats - but includes many of the Figaro class' top names including former Solitaire du Figaro winners Charles Caudrelier, Dominique Vittet and Eric Drouglazet:

1. BESTAVEN Yannick / AQUARELLE.COM / 34
2. CAUDRELIER Charles / BOSTIK / 3
3. DA CRUZ Antonio Pedro / LITTLE BLACK SHARK / 47
4. DAVIES Samantha (GB) / SKANDIA / 10
5. DROUGLAZET Eric / CREDIT MARITIME - ZEROTWO / 6
6. EMIG Marc / TOTAL / 30
7. GREGOIRE Jeanne / BANQUE POPULAIRE / 40
8. LIVORY Yannig / ENTREPRENDRE AU PAYS DE LORIENT / 67
9. MORVAN Gildas / CERCLE VERT / 5
10. RAISON David / not communicated / 93
11. TRIPON Armel / GEDIMAT / 57
12. VITTET Dominic / ATAO AUDIO SYSTEM / 22



On Friday all with the exception of Gildas Morvan took part in a short prologue event won by the 2004 Solitaire du Figaro winner Charles Caudrelier with female skippers Sam Davies and Jeanne Gregoire taking a very creditable second and third, their training over the winter month clearly paying dividends.

Pos Skipper Boat
1 CAUDRELIER Charles Bostik
2 DAVIES Samantha Skandia
3 GREGOIRE Jeanne Banque Populaire
4 EMIG Marc Total
5 DROUGLAZET Eric Crédit Maritime - Zerotwo
6 LIVORY Yannig Entreprendre Au Pays de Lorient
7 VITTET Dominic ATAO Audio System
8 BESTAVEN Yannick Aquarelle.com
9 TRIPON Armel Gedimat
10 RAISON David Coutot Roehrig
11 PEDRO DA CRUZ Antonio Little Black Shark
NP* MORVAN Gildas Cercle Vert

At 1308BST today, Joel Batteux, Mayor of Saint Nazaire fired the starting gun for the Trophée BPE. In a SSW winds of 10-12 knots, Dominic Vittet on ATAO Audio Systems was the first boat to cross the start line in the Loire Estuary, followed by Yannick Bestaven on Aquarelle.com and Jeanne Gregoire backed by her newly acquired sponsor Banque Populaire. There was an individual recall for former Mini sailor David Raison on Coutot Roehrig who was OCS.

Light winds are forecasted for today which will mean a slow and frustrating start for the 12 skippers and whilst it is due to be very shifty overnight and into tomorrow morning, by noon the breeze should have settled into the north at around 18 knots.

Just before the start Skandia skipper Sam Davies said: "I just can't wait to go now! The boat is ready and I feel ready. At the moment, I'm feeling excited about it, more than apprehensive. It's a small race - there's only 12 boats so it's a bit like a family of friends going off on an adventure because we've never sailing these boats that distance before non-stop and solo so I don't think anyone is really nervous. We've been following the Vendée Globe, Ellen's record attempt and Orange sailing round the world all winter so I think everyone is dying to get out there now and get sailing because we've been motivated by our friends who have been doing amazing things. I'm really looking forward to it!

"It's my second solo transat race. The first one was the Mini Transat with a stop in the middle in the Canary Islands so it's a little bit different. The boat is bigger and more comfortable and the race is a lot longer than the Mini Transat so all in all it's a bit more of a challenge - it's the next step up from the Mini-Transat"

Only half of the Trophée BPE skippers have previously completed a solo transatlantic race.

At 1500GMT today Sam Davies was lying in third place. See the 1800 positions here:

Pos Boat DTF DTL VMG Lat Long Spd Crs Spd Crs
Instant 4 hr aver
1 BOSTIK 4226.3 0.0 4.4 47 10.26' N 2 48.42' W 4.6 293 5.9 260.0
2 CREDIT MARITIME-ZEROTWO 4226.6 0.3 4.0 47 10.98' N 2 51.54' W 4.7 286 5.7 266.0
3 CERCLE VERT 4226.8 0.5 4.5 47 10.08' N 2 47.64' W 4.2 285 5.9 258.0
4 BANQUE POPULAIRE 4227.2 0.9 3.7 47 11.10' N 2 50.58' W 4.5 291 5.5 265.0
5 SKANDIA 4227.5 1.2 3.6 47 11.16' N 2 50.16' W 4.3 291 5.5 262.0
6 TOTAL 4228.2 1.9 3.7 47 10.74' N 2 48.96' W 3.2 285 5.4 264.0
7 AQUARELLE.COM 4228.3 2.0 3.0 47 10.62' N 2 48.84' W 3.4 292 5.3 264.0
8 GEDIMAT 4228.8 2.5 3.3 47 10.26' N 2 48.00' W 2.4 296 5.2 263.0
9 ATAO AUDIO SYSTEM 4228.9 2.6 2.4 47 10.32' N 2 47.82' W 2.3 294 5.1 263.0
10 COUTOT ROEHRIG 4230.9 4.6 1.5 47 08.46' N 2 44.40' W 1.1 282 4.8 256.0
11 ENTREPRENDRE AU PAYS DE LORIENT 4231.2 4.9 1.6 47 07.80' N 2 43.68' W 1.2 275 4.6 253.0
12 LITTLE BLACK SHARK 4231.6 5.3 1.4 47 07.68' N 2 43.08' W 1.1 270 4.6 252.0

Weatherwise the boats are forecast to experience little wind for the first few days of the race as the general situation in the North Atlantic is once again far from conventional with a massive west to east orientated high pressure ridge to the east of Newfoundland squeezed between depressions to the west of the Azores and south of Iceland. The forecast shows the eastern extremity of this ridge developing into a high pressure system right in the path of the boats over the next 24 hours and the competitors will have to be careful not to find themselves becalmed in its centre. Come Wednesday the high is due to have shifted southeast giving competitors the unappetizing choice between no wind to the south and headwind to the north. In terms of routing the start of this race will be far from easy.


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CLICKAR EN LOS ANUNTIOS DE BABOR!!!!!

[Open Chinijo]

Hola.
El trofeo BPE 2005, se convierte en la primera Transat, en solitario y en monotipo.
A seguir....
Q Jodios, los gabachos se pondran hasta el culo de Ron en Cuba.

Saludos y que corra el ron, mejor si es de canarias

[Tomatasso]

Yo quiero participar...


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