FOLLOWING the launch of her dynamic Vendee campaign, Ellen MacArthur is back in action this week, taking part in the Double-handed Figaro Tour of Brittany in her Kingfisher-backed Figaro.

The Isle of Wight-based yachtswoman is using the Tour de Bretagne as part of her own Vendee race training and is racing with Figaro coach Gael LeCleac'h.

MacArthur (left) said: "This will be another steep learning curve for me. The guys racing here are the very best in France. They know the boats and the difficult coastline, inside out. Some of the top pros have been racing these boats almost every day for many years. My objective is to learn as much as possible and try to be in the top half of the fleet - that would be fantastic.

It is an excellent training arena, for boatspeed, solo manoeuvres, weather and tactics."

Until yesterday, four legs had been completed with the last ranking as the shortest in distance but one of the more difficult tactically. It was virtually all upwind in light airs, with the strong and complex tides along the coast and in the Rade de Brest. After a very tricky start, after two general recalls, in four to five knots of breeze, the 33-strong fleet finally got a way. Kingfisher had her best start of the week and was still holding a top-ten placing up until the final mark at the entrance to the Goulet de Brest, the narrow channel just a few miles before the finish.

The learning curve was steep for MacArthur (Kingfisher) as expected - but a top-ten position at the first mark was not such a bad start!

"We've got lots of room for improvement, but this is a great place for doing it!" said MacArthur at the finish.

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