organised by :
Michel Desjoyeaux gives us his first impressions after winning La Solitiare Afflelou Le Figaro.
Three thirds; Crosshaven, La Coruna and Les Sables d’Olonne and one memorable 1st place in Brest
What does it feel to have won the La Solitiare for the third time?
“What has made winning this race different and in interesting on each leg is the particularly high level of the competition. There are previous editions where you had the impression that nothing was happening; on this one things were happening all the time. You had to think things through at all times to try and do better. There was never a moment of boredom. There is nothing worse, as says Jean-Paul Mouren, than a one leg reach at a furious pace driving the boat. We did not have any of that this year. This comes from the conditions but also from the high standard and even level of the competition. All the boats perform well and all the competitors are able to take good initiatives, not just follow. That is what I came looking for: the fight, the confrontation.
With our big boats (Open 60’s) you do not sail with this level of confrontation. Here you have 50 competitors of which 20 have the level to win…You just have to look at the way they all left the bay in La Coruna the day before yesterday, there were boats all over the place. You can only find this on La Solitaire. This fourth leg…
The fact of having started badly in the middle of the fleet followed by some stupid manouvers (one of the spinnaker sheets got caught in a rudder), gave me extra energy. I did not give up until I had caught up with the leaders, which did not take long. I fought it out with Nico (Bérenger) and lost a spinnaker. I started a 10 to 12 hour session driving the boat soaked to the bone…my hands are still frozen and they hurt from having driven the boat at those high speeds, it was quite a physical race.
Hiding my happiness…that is how it is, I am like that. I had to fight it out so hard to get back into the game that all my nerves are still tingling. All the “cunninghams” are still stretched. Then yesterday afternoon we did get a good pasting and soak…for me who does not like the water, it was not too pleasant. Anyway, what disappoints me the most is that I had still hoped to win this leg. Looking at the position I was in and that I could not see any of my competitors, bar Koné Ascenseurs behind me, I thought I could win!”
