Crucial navigation along the Galician coast, especially after Cape Finisterre towards Figueira da Foz. Before Finisterre «Teamwork» had every chance of staying at the head of the Sardinha Cup fleet, but south of this cape they insisted on land tack and «Ageas – Team Baie de Saint-Brieuc» knew how to take advantage of the opportunity to jibe to sea and leave him astern.
The good speed at the stern of the «Ageas – Team Baie de Saint-Brieuc» (Garnier Mael / Leboucher Pierre) with averages above 15 knots has allowed it to make a rapid descent to Figueira da Foz which was only followed by one more than a mile away the «Amarris-Primeo Energie». Thus, at 7:42:20 today, Friday, he crossed the finish line in first position in Figueira da Foz, and 8 minutes later the second Figaro 3 of the duo Achille Nebout and Pierre Quiroga would do so.
Speaking about when he realized that he had won this stage, Maël Garnier would comment: "Only when we crossed the line did we realize that we were the first, we suspected it from Cape Finisterre, but we were not sure, because the fleets crossed again between those who had started north and those who had started towards the coast. We didn't know if the peloton was going to pass us and where Nils (Palmieri with Julien Villion in Teamwork) and Achille (Nebout with Pierre Quiroga in Amarris) were -Primeo Energie) We had some doubts, but afterwards we were already happy to be in the right pack and to be at the front to attack in the south with the Portuguese trade winds”.
For Pierre Leboucher the victory is a consequence of: "Until the finish line, because we fought all night to get the boat moving, the people behind us wouldn't let us, but much of it was due to the option of going for the night breeze on the Spanish north coast. We went to play this option, several of us did it, some of us made it, some of us didn't, this part was quite complicated, because we didn't know where the others were. Normally, in the morning, we have scores, so that we know the distance to the finish line, which gives us an idea, but in this case, we had no idea, we just had a doubt about the “Bretagne-CMB Performance”, we didn't know if they were ahead or not”.
On how they have made the tactical decision on which board to follow, Maël Garnier would comment: "It was done before reaching the Spanish coast, we wanted to protect this option, in case of doubt, we wanted to position ourselves between the land and the package, that's what At first it was a bit difficult for us to accept it because we saw that on the coast they were winning a lot, but we trusted each other and at night we really launched ourselves, we told ourselves that we had to go for it all. I think we had to trust each other the other and not be in the middle”.
In reference to whether it was a tough stage, Maël Garnier: "Oh yes! Especially the last night, to lead, it was complicated, Pierre handled it well, there was a lot of wind. And the two days around the start didn't help either. in terms of food, hydration and sleep, but I think we managed a little, because the last night we did not sleep, and in the end, we woke up, so that's fine!
The second classified value the stage as very intense from the beginning. For Pierre Quiroga: "It was a very nice stage, with beats, fronts, manual cases, which we managed quite well". And Achille Nebout: "We got ahead on the second front a little before Cape Finisterre, and there, we don't really know what happened, we'll have to look at the trajectories, we fell into a slightly different wind than those who came behind and that it caused a big side shift and we took a lot of punishment! As we didn't have the same wind we couldn't do much. It was a bit of a morale boost to see the guys ahead about 8 miles apart, they were very small anyway , but we knew it was going to be a rough night until we got the spinnakers out, so we didn't get too demoralized. different winds, we fought all night, and in an hour in the morning (Thursday), we were back in the game. At that moment, everyone turned, we did not understand why and continued straight, we had to cross the cr this one from the high pressure to catch the wind that was going to come from the right from behind, that's what happened. After that, the wind picked up in front of us, because you catch the wind stronger than the others, and we gained an 8-mile lead over the pack in 4 miles.”
Pierre Quiroga: "We were then 1.7 miles from Maël and Pierre at Cape Finisterre, we told ourselves that we had twelve hours of work until the arrival to get ahead, we were a bit serene, and they sailed very well, we have to congratulate them because We pushed a lot from behind, kept the big spinnaker on all night."
Achille Nebout: "They have been impeccable, they deserve this victory and we are happy with this second place. We were very well organized from the beginning, well rested from the first night upwind, and that was one of our strengths to get back into the game when things got complicated.
Almost an hour later than the first, in third place, Erwan Le Draoulec and Loïs Berrehar would arrive aboard the «Skipper Macif».
Loïs Berrehar: "We haven't started very well, we've come back from a long way back, we've done a good job upwind and we were way back in the lead pack before things took a bit of a detour at Cape Finisterre, but still So we managed to get back into the right bunch little by little and then we had a Portuguese trade wind that we liked a lot: we were fast, with the right pace and we had fun, it was great. And the icing on the cake at the end, we managed to overcome to the “Région Normandie”, which is a new podium for us, which is great”.
Erwan Le Draoulec: "There was a good fight all the time and we really had good speed, we started with some silly mistakes at the start and at Cape Finisterre where we weren't very inspired as we approached the coast. We saw what the front guys were doing We had been talking about it for a long time, but we didn't dare to go there, when we saw them get crammed, it was a bit rough, but we came back every time and had a great last night, we had the speed to compensate for those silly mistakes in strategy.
At 2:50 p.m. today, Friday, June 10, 2022, only four Figaro 3s remain to arrive in Figueira da Foz: «Mercy Ships» by D'Ersu Victor and Ragueneau Tiphaine, «Interaction» by Livory Yannig and Livory Erwan, “Prisme Océan” by Grenié Pierre and Dantec Valentin and the “Passion Santé - Trans-Forme” by Richard Romen and Le Pape Victor; which are 8.5, 33.98, and 47.84 miles respectively from the finish line.
Next Tuesday, the 14th, the second stage is scheduled to start at 11 am between Figueria da Foz and Pays de Saint Gilles Croix de Vie. And on Sunday, June 12, 2022, there will be a Pro-Am test in Figueira da Foz starting at 1:00 p.m.
