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De Pavant takes Figaro Solo trophy

The 2002 Figaro Solo was De Pavant's third attempt

CHERBOURG, France -- Solo sailor Christophe de Pavant sailed fifth over the finish line in the final leg of the 2002 Figaro Solo race, clinching first place overall.

The overall winner is calculated on accumulated elapsed time over four legs of 1,691 nautical miles of coastal and ocean racing to test the 38 competitors.

Sailing into Cherbourg, De Pavant finished just 11 minutes after leg winner Yann Elies. His consistency throughout the race paid off, with second, fourth and two fifth places.

De Pavant's total elapsed time was 327 hours and 20 minutes, 23 minutes ahead of French meteorologist Gilles Chiorri.

MORE STORIES • Fleet fight for Figaro Solo finale  • Close fleet for Figaro Solo finish  • Young sailor wins Figaro first leg

De Pavant, 40, is a very experienced sailor with 25 transatlantic crossings to his name. However, it was his third Figaro Solo having finished twelfth in 2000 and ninth in 2001.

He has only recently started professional sailing, racing in an Open 60 with Bernard Gallay in the two-handed Transat Jacques Vabre in 2001 and finishing second on the 60ft trimaran Bonduelle with Jean le Cam in the Course des Phares earlier this year.

His ambition now is to find a boat for the Route du Rhum in November.

The Figaro Solo lead changed many times on the fourth and final 465-mile leg from Gijon in northern Spain to Cherbourg.

At one stage in the closing stages of the final leg on Wednesday night Chiorri was at the front of the fleet with a chance of the overall prize.

The 2002 race was 28-year-old Elies' seventh Figaro Solo with his best result a sixth place in 2001. The fourth leg win pulled him up to tenth overall. Earlier this year he broke the Jules Verne around-the-world record, sailing on the maxi-catamaran Orange with Bruno Peyron.

Figaro Solo: Results fourth leg (sailor/yacht)

Figaro Solo final accumulated times after four legs: