From an incredibly close finish which saw all three top teams arrive at the Dun Laoghaire, Dublin line within 77 seconds of each other, it was Michel Desjoyeaux and his crew of FONCIA which stole victory on the MOD70 European Tour first leg of the from Kiel to Dublin.
In a heart stopping race to the line in very gentle breezes the winners were no more than 200 metres ahead of second placed Yann Guichard and crew on Spindrift racing with Sebastien Josse and the crew of Groupe Edmond de Rothschild no more than 300 metres behind.
The 1238 miles leg which started Sunday afternoon in Kiel was decided almost on the finish line.
FONCIA finally seized the lead with less than 15 miles to the finish, overhauling Guichard’s Spindrift racing which had lead consistently since last Monday morning when they passed Desjoyeaux’s crew on the NW Danish coast. In the final hours the two leaders were only 3-500 metres apart, with FONCIA only just holding on to win.
Finish times Dun Laoghaire (GMT)
1-Michel Desjoyeaux (FONCIA) 23h 19m 09s Wed 5th September
2-Yann Guichard (Spindrift racing) 23h 19m 41s Wed 5th September
3-Sébastien Josse (Groupe Edmond de Rothschild) 23h 20m 26s 5th September