Eric Drouglazet on Malongo wins the second offshore leg of the Firgaro Generali Solo

The second offshore leg of the Figaro Generali Solo finished on Saturday in the French Mediterranean town of Beaulieu-sur-Mer. Eric Drouglazet on Malongo took a race win in the 33-boat fleet while British yachtswoman Samantha Davies aboard Skandia, struggled through the fleet from a poor start and had to settle for eighth. Commenting on the race Davies said: “I had one of my worst starts ever, and did the first beat really badly going round the first mark in second to last place. I managed to recover and work my way back up to mid-fleet but then went inshore thinking that there would be more wind, but there was nothing so I was back in the last five looking at everyone sailing off and went through the gate at the back of the fleet.

“I knew I had to work really hard to try to get back into the race and knew that I would find more wind inside a small group of islands. I found a band of wind and gybed loads of times and kept seeing the lights of my competitors as I passed them. I then decided to go offshore which proved to be a good decision as I managed to sail around most the fleet, finally finishing in 8th place.

“It was really a ‘race in two halves’ and I am pleased that I managed to recover from a disappointing start and move my overall position up to 12th place,” concluded Davies.

The final offshore leg, from Beaulieu-sur-Mer to Porquerolles (110miles) is due to start today.

Race 7: La Grande Motte – Beaulieu-sur-Mer

1 MALONGO DROUGLAZET Eric

2 CLIPTOL SPORT PELLECUER Laurent

3 CERCLE VERT MORVAN Gildas

4 BOOZY AND THE KIKOUYOUS DE PAVANT Kito

5 BOSTIK FINDLEY CAUDRELIER-BENAC Charles

6 THALES TABARLY Erwan

7 GROUPE GENERALI ASSURANCES ELIES Yann

8 SKANDIA DAVIES Samantha

9 MARSEILLE ENTREPRISES MOUREN Jean-Paul

10 DELTA DORE BEYOU Jéremi

1 CERCLE VERT MORVAN Gildas 43

2 MALONGO DROUGLAZET Eric 45

3 GROUPE GENERALI ASSURANCES ELIES Yann 51

4 BOOZY AND THE KIKOUYOUS DE PAVANT Kito 59

5 DELTA DORE BEYOU Jéremie 62

6 BOSTIK FINDLEY CAUDRELIER-BENAC Charles 67

7 THALES TABARLY Erwan 72

8 CLIPTOL SPORT PELLECUER Laurent 86

9 ALL MER DUTHIL Frédéric 94

10 ESPOIR CREDIT AGRICOLE KRAUSS Oliver 96

11 L’ESPRIT D’EQUIPE PEAN Lionel 111

12 SKANDIA DAVIES Samantha 119