Corentin Douguet, the Transat 6.50 Maritime-Bahia Charente race favourite, arrived at Lanzarote at 0702 this morning winning the first leg of the race.
Douget, sailing E. LeClerc/Bouygues Telecom his swinging keel/waterballasted Manuard design, took just six and a half days to cover 1,300 miles sailing at an average speed of eight knots. Sebastien Gladu on Armor Lux took second finishing at 0817, and Yves Blévec on Dephemerid'Eux managed, eventually to break through British sailor Phil Sharp overnight to claim third two hours later.
Sharp, who's sailed a very impressive first leg having retained third position for most of the week, was overhauled in the closing stages and had to settle for fourth overall - just five hours behind Douguet.
Another young sailor, 21-year-old Adrien Hardy, took a creditable fifth overall, while Peter Laureyssens on Wellments won the first leg Series class finishing in eighth place overall.
Positions (first leg to Lanzarote)
1 433 Douguet Corentin E. LECLERC / BOUYGUES TELECOM PROTO
2 427 Gladu Sébastien ARMOR LUX PROTO
3 151 Le Blevec Yves POINT MARIAGE PROTO
4 419 Sharp Philip LE GALLAIS PROTO
5 198 Hardy Adrien BROSSARD PROTO
6 260 Ducrot Cyril REGION NORD PAS DE CALAIS PROTO
7 424 De Lamotte Tanguy SET ENVIRONNEMENT POUR MECENAT CHIRURGIE CARDIAQUE PROTO
8 417 Maslard Stanislas CREDIT AGRICOLE SKIPPER CHALLENGE PROTO
9 438 Laureyssens Peter WELLMENTS SERIE
10 346 Giraud Clément ADRENALINE METROPOLE ARC. PROTO
Sue Pelling/Yachting World, 24 September 2005
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