Leg 1 - Le Havre-Gijón (Spain) 515-miles

The Jackal marks its territory, Yann Eliès runs aground
Le Havre, Tuesday 27th July. With a light north westerly the 45 solo sailors get down to work for the start of the 41st edition of La Solitaire du Figaro, beginning with the hardest chore: the race longest leg. 515 miles and a number of hurdles to get over: the bay of Seine, Barfleur point, the Raz Blanchard before crossing the English Channel and the chenal du Four, Brittany point, the crossing of the Bay of Biscay and last but not least the landing on the Asturian coast. Eric Peron (Skipper Macif 2009) leads on the first night; under the moonlight the fleet gets closer to the Cotentin shoreline. Seaweed hampers the boats’ progress, who continue to sail in a compact group. Strategical options are to be made in the treacherous currents of Raz Blanchard, among the Channel Islands where the winds veers. Two days of upwind tacking ensues.

The Channel turns into disaster for Yann Eliès (Generali-Europ Assistance) who falls asleep and runs aground on the beach in Primel. He succeeds in getting off alone with no outside assistance by using his engine, which will cost him two precious hours in terms of time penalty. In the Four Channel the sight is breathtaking: the wind finally veers and the fleet hoist spinnakers, all the way to the finish in Gijón. Armel Le Cléac'h (Brit Air) moves into the lead, whilst Yann Eliès makes up for the lost ground. In the Bay of Biscay all focus on how to cross the high-pressure ridge in very light air. Gibing at the right moment and at the right place and choosing a more easterly route than the direct one, a quartet composed of Le Cléac'h, Eliès, Péron et François Gabart (Skipper Macif 2010) manage to break away. On Saturday 31st July, the “Jackal” crosses the line in Gijón first, ahead of Yann Eliès and Eric Péron. Following the penalty inflicted on Eliés later in Brest this podium will change: Eric Péron gets on the second step and François Gabart on the third. The five leaders arrive in Spain with a sixty minutes gap but the rest of the fleet starts to accumulate disadvantage: 1 hour and a half for the 20th and 2 hours for the 30th placed and over.

Leg 2 - Gijón-Brest 385 miles

Second one to Armel Le Cléac’h
The second stage proves to be just as exiting as the first one. 385 to cover; the opening 230 miles are truly offshore, with the 45 skippers heading out to cross once again the Bay of Biscay with a second part along the Brittany coast, ending with a tricky finish in Brest. A perfect lesson for good Figaro students, with a high pressure ridge and a cold front to negotiate, downwind sailing under spinnaker and gibes, upwind tacking along the coast, finishing slow motion in Brest.

On the 3rd of August, facing the green covered Asturian cliffs, Yann Eliès makes a perfect start while five of his companions (among whom Jérémie Beyou) are over the line and called back by the Race Committee. Under a bright and warm sun, in a dozen knots of breeze Generali-Europ Assistance’s skipper rounds in first both the Seamobile and Radio France marks.

The first evening and early into the night, the sailors have to tackle the passage of a high pressure ridge that slows down considerably their progress. From the West to the East each skipper has to make a choice, in very light breeze. As the positions change, it looks like it’s the easternmost group who profit from the situation. Jérémie Beyou (BPI), Jean-Pierre Nicol (Bernard Controls) and Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel) lead while the wind shifts and increases, forcing the “Figaristes” to reach in good breeze, steering constantly for more than 20 hours and making frequent sail changes. The breeze goes up to 20/25 knots, with gusts at 30 and a very confused sea. At the SN1 mark, just outside St Nazaire, Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air) – who went slightly more offshore than his competitors- takes command with some hundreds metres advantage on François Gabart (Skipper Macif 2010) and earlier leader Jérémie Beyou. This trio is going to fight a fight over the 115 miles long upwind lap to the finish line in Brest. An exhausted but grinning Armel Le Cleac’h crosses it in very light air at 2.44 a.m.

The second leg is marked by both Le Clác’h’s second consecutive win and by Fred Duthil’s abandonment due to a painful healing elbow.


Leg 3 - Brest-Kinsale (Ireland)

Adrien Hardy’s masterpiece
Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air) maintains a solid control of the race when the 44 skippers leave Brest again on Thursday 5th August. The start proves to be very chaotic, with OCS and collisions which handicap some sailors, namely Marc Emig (marcemigetmoi.com) and Armel Tripon (Gedimat), who even considers abandoning, but then changes his mind and continues racing. The show is unique in a sunny and spectator packed bay. The boats sail just metres from the rocks in a fierce battle led by one of the local heroes, Thomas Rouxel (Crédit Mutuel de Bretagne). François Gabart (Skipper Macif 2010) is stuck on a rock and in an incredible act, takes down all the sails, gets off his boat which he literally pushes away with no damage. Humid, windy, exhausting, the Channel crossing takes its toll; yet Thomas Rouxel resists and continues in the lead. His leadership lasts right up to 100 miles from the Fastnet Rock, where he is rejoined and then over taken by a certain Mr Le Cleac’h! The gaps at the top are small, though, and over an interminable upwind stretch the “Jackal” makes his one and only mistake in the Solitaire, tacking too late in the final approach to the lighthouse rock.
The Fastnet rounding is a pleasure for photographers: five boats sail past nearly simultaneously and hoist their spinnakers in light airs and a pale light. Adrien Hardy (Agir Recouvrement) and Yann Eliès (Generali-Europ Assistance) go looking for fresher and cleaner breeze close to the shore whilst Thomas Rouxel, Jean-Pierre Nicol (Bernard Controls) and Gildas Morvan (Cercle Vert) try to profit for a more offshore option.
Hardy keeps going despite Yann Eliès being close behind and putting pressure on the young skipper form Nantes.
In a magnificent setting with the Irish green cliffs off Kinsale, illuminated by the sunset light, Adrien Hardy crosses the finish line to take his first and well deserved leg victory in the Solitaire. Only later in Cherbourg it will be obvious that this is the only win that Le Cleac’h would obtain. Kinsale sees two brilliant performances by newcomers to the Figaro: Anthony Marchand (Espoir Région Bretagne) and Francisco Lobato (ROFF/Tempo-Team) who close in 8th and 9th place respectively. Armel Le Cléac’h will be difficult to beat but the rest of the podium is till open for at least 15 skippers. The “rookies” final ranking will be decided in the last and decisive leg.


Leg 4 - Kinsale-Cherbourg Octeville 435 miles

Fast sailing downwind and the celebration of Armel the master
At the start in Kinsale, after a long restful stopover, the 44 skippers look nervous and eager to play their last cards right. The stress is clear when the Race Committee is forced to call two generall recalls and, even more, when Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat) and Matthieu Girolet (Entreprendre Lafont Presse) suffer a violent collision. Stamm’s bow is seriously affected, a big hole showing, and Girolet’s boat is no longer safe to sail due to extensive damage in the chain plate area.

Both skippers start but promptly go back to the harbour to try and repair their boats and then decide to abandon (Bernard Stamm will be given a redress and will be reinstated in the overall ranking). For the others the schedule is set: 435 miles to Cherbourg, 45 miles upwind to the Fastnet and the rest under spinnaker sailing fast downwind.
Jean-Pierre Nicol (Bernard Control) and Laurent Pellecuer (Arnolfini.fr) share the honours at the weather mark and at the Radio France mark where there is a colossal scuffle of boats and spinnakers as the sailors arrive in packs of fifteen. On the first night the fleet tacks along the southern coast of Ireland until Gildas Morvan (Cercle Vert) is first around the Fastnet, wrapped up in fog as usual. Spinnakers up, the sailors face 48 hours of devilish downwind sailing, in strong breeze, often at 30 plus knots at a passage of a cold front. The fleet has a huge lateral separation - more than 20 miles - and quickly Armel the master takes the lead together with three colleagues: Corentin Douguet (E.Leclerc Mobile) the two Skipper Macif sailors, François Gabart and Eric Peron. Chinese gibes, damage, broken spinnakers and poles are order of the day. The rounding of the Lizen Ven (north Finistère) under grey skies and then the contrary tidal flow at raz Blanchard sees the four leading boats extend their advantage.

In the bay of Cherbourg-Octeville, while the light is slowly turning into darkness, Armel Le Cléac’h crosses the line conquering the Solitaire 2010 in grand style. At 33 he wins a race he heavily dominated (three leg victories) becoming the man of all records. He also enters the very selected clan of double winners, after his first success back in 2003. He crosses in front of an excellent Corentin Douguet (E.Leclerc Mobile) and a consistent François Gabart (Skipper Macif 2010) who secure the 3rd and 2nd overall place respectively. Among the newcomers Anthony Marchand (Espoir Région Bretagne) is the clear winner of the “first timer” ranking followed by Yoann Richomme (DLBC) and Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat).