Jeremie Beyou (Bernard Paoli) grabbed the lead of the Suzuki Prologue in Lorient yesterday (28 July) and went on to win the race in a little over 3 hours. Closely following in second place, a mere 7 boat lengths behind, was Frederic Duthil (BBox Bouygues Telecom) with Nicolas Berenger (Kone Elevators) less than half a mile back.

This trio held the first three positions around every mark of the 16-mile course, sailed in bright sunshine with a gentle 8-12 knot south-westerly breeze. Out of the 52-boat fleet, Fabien Delahaye brushed off the competition from his fellow rookies, being the first of them to cross in a very respectable 16th place.

The top international place was taken by Franco German sailor, Isabelle Joschke (Synergie), who crossed the finish in 38th. Britons Nigel King (Nigel King Yachting) and Johnny Malbon (Artemis) took 42nd and 43rd respectively.

The start of the first leg, 345 miles from Lorient to La Coruna, is set for 13:00 local time tomorrow (Thursday 30 July).

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