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Plus de FigaroSolitaire du Figaro international: étoiles, stars, estrellas and stelle
15-08-2010
The first edition of the Solitaire dates back to 1970, when a dozen fearless pioneers set sail from Brest to write the first page of a 40 years long history of what today is considered one the most prestigious offshore races worldwide. Since the time when the regatta was called Course de l’Aurore from the newspaper that firstly sponsored it, 598 solo sailors have taken part, piling up experience, covering thousands of miles, fighting to become “stars” of the Solitaire.
Despite being considered very French, over the years the Solitaire has been attracting a number of skippers coming from other parts of the world, wishing to learn from and compete against some of the strongest solo ocean specialists ever.
Many nationalities are represented in the roll call: Spain Italy, Holland, Belgium, the United Kingdom and the Basque Country. The skipper coming from the most far way country is young Liz Wardley from Australia while North America was represented by three Canadians, world famous Mike Birch and Louise Chambaz in the eighties and Gerry Roufs in the nineties. Swiss Dominique Wavre, whose career include no less than seven fully crewed and solo round-the-world races as well as regattas in different dinghy and one-design classes and the America’s Cup, is the non French skipper to have obtained the best results in the Solitaire. Wavre was second overall in 1990 and 1997.
In the history of the race a unique place goes to Englishwoman Clare Francis who was the first and only foreign female to win a leg in 1975 from Kinsale to Croisic.
Italian Pietro D’Alì has a special record since he is the first non French “bizuth”, newcomer to the race, to have won a leg in 2005 when he crossed the line in first in La Rochelle among the surprised and enthusiastic applause of the local public. Before him it was late Simone Bianchetti and Alberto Spina to fly the Italian flag on the Solitaire.
Over the years, Spain has provided many entries but the Iberian peninsula will remain in the annals also for the unique case of two brothers, Bruno and Guillermo Garcia from Barcelona, who both took part in several editions of the race.
Portugal’s first ever participant is Francisco Lobato, one of this year’s new entries, who after a winning experience in the Mini Transat, decided to come to the “Figaro University” to take his degree in offshore racing.
Moreover, for over four decades each edition of La Solitaire visited at least one foreign country most of the time two, stopover locations equally split among Spain, Ireland and the United Kingdom.
English born and Irish resident sailor, as well as renowned journalist and communicator, Marcus Hutchinson took part twice to the event. He explains why the race is so fascinating and hard at the same time for non French skippers.
“I first set foot on a Figaro boat back in the mid nineties, when I was working in France, spoke French, I met Michel Desjoyeaux. I was attracted by ocean and solo sailing and when he offered me to participate with him to the double-handed Tour de Bretagne I agreed at once. I was extremely lucky to have such an opportunity, Michel was a great teacher and we even won the event, with four victories out of seven legs. In 1989 I entered for the first time in a single-handed event, had the incredible fortune of getting to Howth, close to where I was born and started sailing. I came back in the year 2000 and still wish to race it again, one day. Racing alone, in one design boats, in complete connection with the natural elements provide you with all the possible highs and lows of human emotions. It’s a powerful experience. On the other hand, this is a race that requires time, training and preparation. And a good budget too.”
According to Doctor Jean-Yves Chauve, who has been taking care of the skippers’ health for 23 years, one the reasons why the foreign participation has always been so sporadic is due to the fact that there are few sailors who speak fluent French and that single-handed ocean racing, as opposed to fully crewed, is really a specialty from France. “La Solitaire allows individuals to assert their personality and uniqueness. Other nationalities have a stronger ability to work in a team, we are born soloist. The fact of having specialised centres where young sailors can train and learn the many features and issues of solo racing makes a huge difference too.”
The future looks bright for the Solitaire to become more and more international. British company Artemis recently announced the creation of an “Offshore Academy”. The investment management company, that have been supporting Jonny Malbon’s offshore racing since 2006 bought no less than four identical Figaro II boats, with the objective of providing the tools and the support for short-handed sailing, with the aim of becoming a centre of excellence in the United Kingdom. Similar good news come also from “Mediterranean” countries, such as Italy and Spain, where a growing number of athletes are considering the idea of being on the start line next year.
This will undoubtedly contribute to the creation of a “new breed” of ocean sailors as it was the case in the past. Many of those who entered the Solitaire later became stars of international allure in solo or fully crewed transat or round-the-world regattas. Suffice to quote the names of Philippe Poupon, Jean le Cam, Alain Gautier, Yves Parlier, Michel Desjoyeaux, Roland Jourdain, Kito de Pavant among the many French and more recently Armel le Cleac’h or Sébastien Josse and English Samantha Davies, who is a four times veteran of the race.
Yet, many of them after more offshore sailing around the planet, more miles, joy and hardship, came back to their “first love affair”… la Solitaire du Figaro.
Many nationalities are represented in the roll call: Spain Italy, Holland, Belgium, the United Kingdom and the Basque Country. The skipper coming from the most far way country is young Liz Wardley from Australia while North America was represented by three Canadians, world famous Mike Birch and Louise Chambaz in the eighties and Gerry Roufs in the nineties. Swiss Dominique Wavre, whose career include no less than seven fully crewed and solo round-the-world races as well as regattas in different dinghy and one-design classes and the America’s Cup, is the non French skipper to have obtained the best results in the Solitaire. Wavre was second overall in 1990 and 1997.
In the history of the race a unique place goes to Englishwoman Clare Francis who was the first and only foreign female to win a leg in 1975 from Kinsale to Croisic.
Italian Pietro D’Alì has a special record since he is the first non French “bizuth”, newcomer to the race, to have won a leg in 2005 when he crossed the line in first in La Rochelle among the surprised and enthusiastic applause of the local public. Before him it was late Simone Bianchetti and Alberto Spina to fly the Italian flag on the Solitaire.
Over the years, Spain has provided many entries but the Iberian peninsula will remain in the annals also for the unique case of two brothers, Bruno and Guillermo Garcia from Barcelona, who both took part in several editions of the race.
Portugal’s first ever participant is Francisco Lobato, one of this year’s new entries, who after a winning experience in the Mini Transat, decided to come to the “Figaro University” to take his degree in offshore racing.
Moreover, for over four decades each edition of La Solitaire visited at least one foreign country most of the time two, stopover locations equally split among Spain, Ireland and the United Kingdom.
English born and Irish resident sailor, as well as renowned journalist and communicator, Marcus Hutchinson took part twice to the event. He explains why the race is so fascinating and hard at the same time for non French skippers.
“I first set foot on a Figaro boat back in the mid nineties, when I was working in France, spoke French, I met Michel Desjoyeaux. I was attracted by ocean and solo sailing and when he offered me to participate with him to the double-handed Tour de Bretagne I agreed at once. I was extremely lucky to have such an opportunity, Michel was a great teacher and we even won the event, with four victories out of seven legs. In 1989 I entered for the first time in a single-handed event, had the incredible fortune of getting to Howth, close to where I was born and started sailing. I came back in the year 2000 and still wish to race it again, one day. Racing alone, in one design boats, in complete connection with the natural elements provide you with all the possible highs and lows of human emotions. It’s a powerful experience. On the other hand, this is a race that requires time, training and preparation. And a good budget too.”
According to Doctor Jean-Yves Chauve, who has been taking care of the skippers’ health for 23 years, one the reasons why the foreign participation has always been so sporadic is due to the fact that there are few sailors who speak fluent French and that single-handed ocean racing, as opposed to fully crewed, is really a specialty from France. “La Solitaire allows individuals to assert their personality and uniqueness. Other nationalities have a stronger ability to work in a team, we are born soloist. The fact of having specialised centres where young sailors can train and learn the many features and issues of solo racing makes a huge difference too.”
The future looks bright for the Solitaire to become more and more international. British company Artemis recently announced the creation of an “Offshore Academy”. The investment management company, that have been supporting Jonny Malbon’s offshore racing since 2006 bought no less than four identical Figaro II boats, with the objective of providing the tools and the support for short-handed sailing, with the aim of becoming a centre of excellence in the United Kingdom. Similar good news come also from “Mediterranean” countries, such as Italy and Spain, where a growing number of athletes are considering the idea of being on the start line next year.
This will undoubtedly contribute to the creation of a “new breed” of ocean sailors as it was the case in the past. Many of those who entered the Solitaire later became stars of international allure in solo or fully crewed transat or round-the-world regattas. Suffice to quote the names of Philippe Poupon, Jean le Cam, Alain Gautier, Yves Parlier, Michel Desjoyeaux, Roland Jourdain, Kito de Pavant among the many French and more recently Armel le Cleac’h or Sébastien Josse and English Samantha Davies, who is a four times veteran of the race.
Yet, many of them after more offshore sailing around the planet, more miles, joy and hardship, came back to their “first love affair”… la Solitaire du Figaro.
