Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) crossed the finish line of the second leg of La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro at 05:19:05 this morning to win the 344-mile race between Crosshaven and Brest sailing at an average 8.41 knots; crossing just 50 seconds ahead of Frederic Duthil (Distinxion), who holds on to the overall time ranked leadership at the close of this leg.

Gildas Mahé (Le Comptoir Immobilier) finished third, 2 minutes and 30 seconds behind the winner, which gives Duthil a 13 minute overall advantage over Desjoyeaux on the time rankings.

“This is a good one, a good one!” Exclaims a smiling Desjoyeaux with hand clenched upon crossing the finish line this morning. This is Michel’s 6th leg win on a Solitaire (in Ireland twice and in Gijon 3 times), a race that he has been title-holder of twice before: in 1992 and again in 1998. This win will hold a special place for Michel as it marks the first win in France for the ultimate sailor that has won all the major solo races including the Vendée Globe, the Route du Rhum and the Transat.
Just 50 seconds later, in a battle right up to the finish line in the Rade de Brest, Frederic Duthil (Distionxion) crossed the line to take second place. “I put everything I had into it and am just completely drained,” he declared upon arrival “I knew there was something that could be done right up to the finish so just put everything I had into it”. As a result, Duthil continues to lie ahead in the overall time rankings after the second leg with a 13 minute advantage over Michel Desjoyeaux.

Gildas Mahé (Le Comptoir Immobilier) completes the podium with a third place on the leg finishing just 2 minutes and 30 seconds behind the winner of the day in his hometown of Brest. The first seven boats had less than half a mile between them over the final miles to the exiting finish.

On the international front, Liz Wardley (Sojasun) from Papa New Guinea comes in less than 40 minutes behind the leader to in 17th with Pietro D’Alí (Kappa) from Italy behind in 21st. The British sailors, both James Bird (GFI Group) and Nigel King (Nigel King Yachting) finished just over 2 minutes apart after 344 miles sailng within sight of each other for parts. Paul ? Riain (City Jet) from Dublin finishes in 46th place.