As expected, the first leg was an extremely tactical affair due to weather conditions which were as surprising as they were tough, with light winds and then gusts which changed direction – all elements which the skippers needed to be on top of. The winner was in doubt right up until the finish, with no fewer than five lead changes occurring up until the end of the race. Frédéric Duthil on Distinxion took first place, with Nicolas Troussel on Financo Michel Desjoyeaux on Foncia completing the podium.

"Overall, I'm happy with the way the boat performed and with its speed," said Thierry Duprey du Vorsent a few minutes after crossing the finish line. "The pack was really tight at times which meant that I could sail alongside a number of very good skippers and I kept up with them all the way. I'm going to go back and analyse the whole leg from beginning to end to see where I made any minor navigation errors. And I'll obviously have to recuperate very quickly – I've really been suffering these last 48 hours and that weakened me considerably. It's a wonderful race, though, and once Monday comes around, I want to be 100% and ready for the start of the second leg!"