In sailing, the sanction fell for Benoit Tuduri. The navigator, winner of the last stage of the Solitaire du Figaro on Thursday in Piriac-sur-Mer (Loire-Atlantique), was excluded from the race on Saturday for having cheated, the organizers announced.
The skipper of Capso-En Cavale “admitted that he had taken a second phone on board allowing him to benefit from an Internet connection, which absolutely contravenes all the rules of the race”, explained George Priol, judge of the Federation French Sailing (FFVoile).
Tuduri “deeply sorry”
According to the organizers, this 29-year-old Northerner used the phone “to download weather files”, which gave him an advantage over his competitors during a race “where sailors fight on equal terms on one-design boats”.
“I made a serious mistake, I cheated on step three. I had the possibility of having a virtual SIM card on board allowing me to have weather files which reinforced my strategy,” wrote Benoit Tuduri in a statement. “I don’t know what came over me… I put pressure on myself to achieve results (…) I draw all the consequences from this mistake (…) I am deeply sorry,” he added.
The cheat was discovered following a check of the sailboats’ on-board computers. Benoit Tuduri, who was participating in his first Solitaire du Figaro, finished at the top of the “Bizuths” ranking at the end of the three stages of the famous race. The skipper also crossed the finish line of the 1st stage in the lead at the beginning of September in Kinsale, but he then received a 30-minute penalty for having violated a packing rule (arrangement of weights on board the boat).
Pierre Daniellot also sanctioned
The race jury was preparing to send a report to the FFVoile on Saturday, which could take sanctions up to the suspension of the skipper’s license. Navigator Pierre Daniellot (Team Vendée Formation) was also disqualified from the last two stages of the race for downloading weather files, the organizers said. The two sailors were due to take the start of the double-handed Transat Jacques-Vabre together aboard a Class40 at the end of next month.
With the exclusion of Benoit Tuduri, it is the sailor Victor Le Pape (Bretagne Region – CMB Espoir) who wins the “Bizuths” classification. The overall podium of this 54th Solitaire du Figaro, won Thursday by Corentin Horeau (Banque Populaire), does not change.