Vendée Globe

Less than six months after his accident in the Vendée Globe, Yann Eliès is back sailing again and in excellent form. The skipper of Generali, who let it be known from the outset that he intended to take part in this year's Figaro single-handed event, certainly showed what he was capable of this weekend by winning the Solo Port de France event that was held in Concarneau in Brittany.

A few days before the start of the race, Yann Eliès asked if it was possible to take part with a double-handed crew, if the weather was bad, in order to ease himself back into the sport and to take advantage of the presence of another crewman on board if required. In the end, because the weather was so calm in Brittany this weekend (10th May), there was no need to worry and so it was alone that the sailor from Northern Brittany set out along with 31 other competitors, including fifteen or so of the top names in the Figaro Bénéteau circuit, like Charles Caudrelier, Gildas Mahé, Fred Duthil and Armel Le Cléac’h, who was looking for other forms of excitement after his highly successful Vendée Globe.

Yann crossed the finish line as the winner early on Sunday morning. He explained that this win was largely down to his state of mind following the last Vendée Globe: «I had already noticed when I went out sailing that I felt free, and could simply go out and enjoy myself again at sea, which meant that the results were that much better. This time, I was here because I really wanted to sail and didn't feel any stress. Having been through so many things means that I can put things into perspective now. Losing one or two places due to a poor manoeuvre or unwise tactical choice, is no longer that dramatic. As a result of that, I felt completely liberated, and could focus entirely on enjoying myself sailing the boat as best I could… »

Yann is nevertheless still aware of the long road ahead to the Figaro event: far from being at 100% of his physical ability, he knows this race was not physically taxing and that a windy leg would be that much more difficult. "As soon as the wind strengthens, I still tend to get down on my hands and knees on the deck. I already noticed that when we were to the west of Sein Island, the seas were rougher and I suffered there… I know I still have a lot of physiotherapy to do, but these three days of solo racing proved that my goal of being competitive in the Figaro in late July was completely realistic." Yann Eliès was the winner and Armel Le Cléach came in fourth. The only person missing was Michel Desjoyeaux. One thing we can be sure of is that the round the world sailors did not lose any of their ability during the long winter voyage of 2008-2009.
 

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