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Close fleet for Figaro Solo finish

Audigane was the surprise winner after 439 miles of racing

LES SABLES D'OLONNE, France -- Only 30 minutes separated the first 14 boats over the finish line of the second leg of the Figaro Solo race after 439 miles of racing.

The surprise winner was an unsponsored entry -- 34-year-old Sebastien Audigane from the Brittany fishing port of Concarneau sailing Sports Without Borders.

Audigane has competed in five Figaro races and usually finishes in the mid-20s. Earlier this year he sailed with Olivier de Kersauson on his failed Jules Verne round-the-world attempt on the maxi-trimaran Geronimo.

The Figaro fleet left Crosshaven, Ireland on Sunday in stormy conditions and arrived in Les Sables D'Olonne, France on Wednesday night.

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The solo sailors had a wild ride sailing singlehanded under spinnaker in winds gusting up to 30 knots.

Within hours of the start of the second leg there was a retirement from the 38-boat fleet with Boulogne sailor Yvan Martinage on board Société Générale-CAB-Boulogne sur Mer reporting broken rigging and problems with the electronics and autopilot.

Other skippers reported sail and rigging damage.

Eric Drouglazet, the 2001 Figaro winner, led for the majority of the race, but when the wind went light towards the finish the fight for first place was tight.

The leaders ran out of wind and anchored to stem the adverse tide while the rest of the fleet sailed up from behind.

Audigane took the lead after splitting from the fleet on Wednesday morning by sailing to the south of the Ile d'Yeu. .

Christophe de Pavant on Malice is in the overall lead on total elapsed time after coming fourth into Les Sables D'Olonne, and second on the first leg.

Twenty-three year old Antoine Koch, the youngest competitor and winner of the first leg, crossed the line in Les Sables D' Olonne in fifteenth place, 36 minutes behind the leader, and is now in fifth overall.

Figaro Solo started from Boulogne-sur-Mer, France on August 4 with four legs to sail, for a total of 1691 nautical miles of coastal and ocean racing.

Leg three starts on August 18 heading 350 miles south to Gijon in northern Spain.

Figaro Solo second leg results

Overall standings after two legs