© Photo : Pierrick Garenne \ n.c. And the winner is... Adrien Hardy ! Adrien Hardy, winner in Azores Adrien Hardy (Brossard) arrive this Monday 7th august at 08h 51’ 40’’ TU leading the fleet of the prototypes, with Andraz Mihelin just behind his stern, one hour and 23 minutes (Adria Mobil Too). Regarding the production boats, danger comes from the South with the great come back of Jean-François Quélen who is located in a good position for the final sprint in the afternoon. Adrien Hardy (Brossard) make seven days 19 hours 49 minutes 40 seconds to arrive in Horta (Faïal-Azores) and the Slovenian Andraz Mihelin (Adria Mobil Too) arrive with only one hour and 23 minutes behind, as he taken benefit of the change of wind to jibe and keep the advantage of being more South to land in the Archipelago. The solo sailors arrive to Graciosa before going south to reach the Horta on Faial Island. It is thus an excellent tactical option to be between the fleet and the finishing line especially knowing that the fifteen knots winds are expected to remain Easterly – North easterly decreasing a little (some ten knots). However, it is necessary to underline the fact that the breeze clearly tends to decrease at night in the archipelago and that the different hills provoke large areas of calm between the islands. Then, nothing is done yet, except that behind the five first navigators, the fleet who are still expected to arrive on Monday in the afternoon. Behind them, some 15 to 20 NM, a six boats pack is still competing for the six position. Galanz’s impoliteness Regarding the production boats, Hervé Piveteau (Jules) has been looses places in the ranking for two days because he did not try to go down, to slowly slide to the South. Because the ideal course for this first leg of the race Les Sables – The Azores – Les Sables definitively looks like an example for strategy : follow a sinusoidal warding Spain from offshore, taking benefit from the downwind winds to go South and landing on the North of the Archipelago. Which should be the opposite for the way back (theoretically) that should be an exponential curve going North at the exit of the Archipelago to go down to Vendée at around the 47° North… But Minis are not thinking about that yet ! Right now, they have to gain Miles in the South to limit the number of jibes in a North easterly wind that turn a little bit East in the last one hundred miles. End the skipper from Brest Jean-François Quelen (Galanz) is doing a great come back thanks to his position already at the latitude of Graciosa. Lightly more North Antoine Debled (ADD Modules) is also on the way … to overtake the Portuguese Francisco Lobato (BPI), current leader ! Here also, the finishing promises to be very open with five different minis in les than fifiteen miles as the Spanish skipper Gérard Marin (Escar l’escala-CN Llanca) is not far neither. It is almost sure that one Production boat will be in the first ten in overall ranking… This proves how excellent are these solo sailors because downwind in medium winds, it is already great to keep the rhythm with the prototypes ! The only problem is that they are going to arrive at night in the Archipelago, and at this moment, it can be very long to finish the last miles in erratic and evanescent winds. Usually, the finishing line is only visible at sunrise… Thus, it is going to be a hot day in Horta. Flat sea, little Norteasterly breeze (less than ten knots), Sea Festival with concerts till the end of the night, loads of sailing boats who came to race in the Archipelago, Peter’s Café overfull… the reception from the people from Azores is worthing the travel ! especially after 1270 NM sailing. For the sixty sailors still competing, musics from Faial bands are close ! Regarding the withdrawals, Laurent Bourgues (Adrénaline) arrived on Sunday morning in Nazaré (Portugal), Anthony Marchand (Hinano) in Peniche, Mathieu Viu (Godevin) in Bayona. The only one left is François Duguet (Crédit Agricole Skipper Challenge) who still is slowly heading to Portugal. Arriving first leg in Horta (Faïal-Azores) : 1-Adrien Hardy (Brossard) in 7 days 21 hours 49 minutes 40 seconds 2-Andraz Mihelin (Adria Mobil Too) in 7j 23h 13’ 15’’, with 01h 23’ 35’’ to the winner 3-Fabien Despres (Soitec) in 7j 23h 50’ 35’’, with 02h 00’ 55’’ to the winner DBo. & AM.  lundi 7 août 2006 Brèves : Le blog des experts Briefing météo samedi à 17h Remise des prix du prologue Classement à la bouée n°2 Les interviews de la voile Vidéos : Prologue 487 Chuan Guo "green dragon" Matériel de sécurité Téléchargement :  Dossier de presse  Avis de course  Avenant n1  Avenant n2  Avenant n3  Avenant 4  Inscriptions  Obligations et engagements Embarquez ... :  Vous souhaitez embarquer sur un bateau accompagnateur... RSS feeds Réalisation : Adonnante.com | Design : fabienne.est.une.indienne | Hébergement : BleuRoy.com