Desjoyeaux wins La Figaro classic

CNN -- French sailor Michel Desjoyeaux added to his long list of single-handed exploits by winning La Solitiare Afflelou Le Figaro race for the third time.

It was Desjoyeaux's tenth crack at one of the toughest races on the French circuit and he joins Jean Le Cam and Philippe Poupon as a three-time winner.

A third-place finish aboard Foncia into Les Sables d'Olonne, 41 minutes and 55 seconds behind Fréderic Duthil (Distinxion) and Gérald Veniard (Scutum) respectively, was enough to secure him the overall crown.

Three third places and one win on the second leg was the basis of his overall victory.

Desjoyeaux covered the four races between Caen, Crosshaven, Brest, La Coruña and Les Sables d'Olonne, making up a total 1,659 miles in 247 hours, 20 minutes and 47 seconds.

Desjoyeaux has dominated single-handed sailing for more than 15 years, winning the Vendee Globe in 2000/2001, the English Transat and the Route du Rhum.

Another Vendee Globe beckons in 2008.

Duthil was his closest challenger, winning the Prologue race, the first leg to Ireland, came second on the next leg (finishing 50 seconds behind Michel Desjoyeaux in Brest) and came eighth on the third leg (2 hours and 9 minutes behind Corentin Douguet).

It was the fourth time the former windsurf champion had competed in La Solitaire and it as his best performance to date.

Just before the start in la Coruña, Duthil declared, "This is my kind of race! It is going to be wet but fun...it will be short, a sprint...well more like a marathon after 30 hours! I am happy about the conditions we are going to get; it is the kind that I go pretty fast on. So that is a good sign. I am not looking at the overall rankings anymore. My objective is to win the leg and forget about anything that has happened up until now."

Douguet (E.Leclerc/Bouygues Telecom) finished third overall. E-mail to a friend

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