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Review of the 38th edition of La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro - A Solitaire for the Brave
The 2007 edition of La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro race has been held in truly wintry conditions: Lots of wind, cold, rain and big seas… A Solitaire held in testing conditions, a Solitaire for the brave. The first leg to Ireland was incredibly varied and tactical, full of opportunities to come back, followed by a second very fast sprint south to Brest for the second leg. Then two huge and memorable storms in the Bay of Biscay, one the competitors had to endure upwind on the third leg and the other downwind with anemometer readings of 50 knots during the final leg. Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) proves to the world that when he competes only two other spots remain on the podium at the end of the race. The ‘King of Solo’ continues to show his dominance in this game completely: with four out of four podium finishes, a leg win and logically the overall title holder. Incredible.
Just behind him half a dozen new sailors take some of the glory. Fred Duthil (Distinxion), with good fortune on his side this year, won two legs, the first into Ireland and the final one to Les Sables d’Olonne. Corentin Douguet (E.Leclerc/Bouygues Telecom) gained such a huge time margin winning the leg to La Coruña that he was able to take the third step of the podium on only his second participation in the event, whilst Nicolas Lunven (Bostik) won first place in the Bénéteau Rookie Rankings.
Here we take a look at the 38th edition of La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro race leg by leg: a race for the brave.
Leg 1: Caen to Crosshaven (415 miles)
Tactical with currents and rocky coastlines…
“I can’t ever remember as a young Figaro sailor having seen so many changes to the leadership. It was like musical chairs, well that is what the first leg of the 2007 edition of La Solitaire was like”. The “young” Figaro sailor, talking that morning of the 3rd of August, was none other than Michel Desjoyeaux who finished third in Ireland, behind Nicolas Troussel (Financo) and the victor, Frédéric Duthil on Distinxion. The leg was full of changes, each part of the racecourse requiring careful strategy: passing the Barfleur mark, the English Channel crossing, navigating along the south coast of England with the currents and calm areas…right up to the “re-start” between Lands End and the Scilly Isles where the fleet re-grouped to cover the last 140 miles of the leg. Just one Figaro sailor did not get to the start line: James Bird (GFI Group) who missed the first leg after hitting something upon leaving the port. The other 49 skippers did not have a moment’s rest on the 415-mile leg. It was a continuous tactical game with currents and wind shifts to deal with leading to seven lead changes: Duthil at the Radio France mark, Gérald Veniard (Scutum) at the Fairways buoy, Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) along the south coat of England, Gildas Morvan (Cercle Vert) and then Nicolas Bérenger (Koné Ascenseurs) at the mark at Hand Deeps, Thierry Chabagny (Brossard) at Cape Lizard and finally Fred Duthil, who at 33 years of age won his first leg after 4 participations. He covered the leg in 2 days, 19 hours, 49 minutes and 55 seconds at an average speed of 6,12 knots.
Leg 2: Crosshaven / Brest (344 miles)
An exhausting sprint
The second leg to Brest via the Fastnet, 344 miles long, proved to be exhausting. For 41 hours the sailors went without sleep, stuck to the helm as they reached their way round the southern shores of Ireland before rounding the Fastnet and then tackling the 200 mile downhill run south to Ushant. Shattered and full of stories of hallucinations, the sailors all tried their best to shine out by the time they reached Brest. In the end it was Michel Desjoyeaux who won the leg, the sixth Figaro leg win of his career, ahead of Frédéric Duthil and the local Brestois sailor, Gildas Mahé (Le Comptoir Immobilier). The 50 solo sailors set off from the Bay of Cork in the rain, with Foncia leading the fleet round the Radio France mark. There then followed a 10-hour sail along the stunning Irish coastline with Gildas Morvan (Cercle Vert) heading the fleet followed by Frédéric Duthil, who rounded the Fastnet Rock in the lead. Then conditions got tough with 20 knots of wind and a rough sea…the downhill run proved to be exhilarating but also exhausting. On the 7th of August Michel Desjoyeaux moved into the lead and never lost it. After a final game of cat and mouse in the vast bottleneck harbour of Brest with Duthil, Mahé, Lebas, Bérenger, Morvan and Chabagny, Foncia crosses the finish line at 05h20 the next day to win the leg.
Leg 3: Brest / La Corogne via BXA (562 miles)
Corentin Douguet – the king of upwind sailing
On Saturday 11th of August the weather forecasts at the Fastnet rock were predicting 55 knots of wind and huge seas. Because of this, the Race Committee decided to avoid sending the 50 solo sailors in that direction. And so the longest leg of the race was reduced from 762 miles to 562. The new course left out the Fastnet and had the fleet heading down to the Gironde Estuary and the BXA mark before heading for La Coruña in Galicia. After a third start in light winds; some skippers were forced to anchor over the evening to hold their position against the turning tide at the Raz de Sein. Shooting stars and wonderful spinnaker sailing conditions followed for the first night at sea. Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia), Gildas Mahé (Le Comptoir Immobilier) and Thierry Chabagny (Brossard) enjoyed the lead initially, but it was Jean-Pierre Nicol (Gavottes) and then Christian Bos (Belle Ile en Mer) who managed to get out of the calm area after BXA first. The calm was deceptive because soon after the fleet endured a 300-mile battle in winds gusting 45 knots and 5 metre waves to get to the finish in La Coruña. Corentin Douguet (E.Leclerc/Bouygues Telecom) proved strongest in these hellish conditions. He decided to tack South for the finish last and won his first leg with a healthy margin over the rest of the fleet. Only Nicolas Troussel (Financo) and Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) were able to limit the damage by finishing in 2nd and 3rd place, 24 and 47 minutes behind respectively. Huge gaps built after that and the overall time rankings were completely changed: Michel Desjoyeaux moved into first place with a 9 minute lead on Corentin Douguet and 14 minutes ahead of Nicolas Troussel.
Leg 4 : La Coruna / Les Sables d’Olonne (340 miles)
Second leg win for Fred Duthil / Michel Desjoyeaux triumphs for the third time
From an upwind thrashing to a downwind one! After a start in sunny conditions in a big swell, the wind increased and continued to increase throughout the race. For the first part of the race, the idea was to work out where to position oneself on the race course, either north or south for the crossing of the Bay of Biscay to reach Les Sables d’Olonne. Butin the end it came down to the gruelling weather conditions - 40 knots of wind, gusting to 50 with 5 metre high waves in the pitch-black night. For some it was a matter of survival, for others it remained a full on battle to the finish with the maximum amount of sail up. Fred Duthil, a former windsurf champion, and Gérald Veniard (Scutum) sailed furthest south and on the most direct route to the finish. Duthil refused to even put a reef in and overtook Veniard who close to the finish blew out his spinnaker. With waves thundering over the boats, Jeanne Grégoire (Banque Populaire) dismasted just 25 miles from the finish. Douguet, Mahé, Troussel and Desjoyeaux took the most northern course in search of the best angle for the final approach based on the wind shift due to come in, but when it did it was not for long. Fred Duthil took a second amazing win followed by Gérald Veniard and who other than… Michel Desjoyeaux, who joined the legends of La Solitiare, Jean Le Cam and Philippe Poupon as the only ever triple winners of the race. Fred Duthil moved back onto the podium to take second place 26 minutes behind Michel Desjoyeaux with Corentin Douguet taking 3rd. Nicolas Lunven (Bostik) takes the Bénéteau Rookie class lead off Vincent Biarnes (Côtes d’Armor) and Aymeric Belloir (Cap 56).
And so Michel Desjoyeaux remains the undisputed King of Solo!
