La Solitaire du Figaro is a go

Published on June 23rd, 2020

The owners and organizers of La Solitaire du Figaro, OC Sport Pen Duick, have confirmed that the flagship race of the French Elite Offshore Racing Championship will go ahead at the end of the summer 2020.

As many as 35 solo sailors are expected on the start line in Saint-Brieuc in north-west France on August 30, and the skippers will race via Dunkirk, before they are welcomed to Saint-Nazaire in the Loire-Atlantique in Western France for the Grand Finale.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has seen the cancellation of sports events around the world, and while the final format of La Solitaire du Figaro will be adapted in line with the health guidelines, OC Sport Pen Duick President Herve Favré said it is a remarkable moment for the company. “There were times when we could have been discouraged, but we continued to work, every moment, strongly believing in the possibility of organizing a race at the end of the summer.

“Throughout this period of uncertainty, we have not stopped conducting regular discussions with all the partners, the communities concerned, sailors and institutions, in order to ensure we can organize the event and that we can deliver it to the level you would expect from a race like this.

“Today, we are extremely proud to be able to confirm the organization of this great classic. This is great news for the offshore racing world, that this race, a major event on the Figaro Bénéteau class calendar, will take place,” Favré concluded.

La Solitaire du Figaro is fiercely competitive. Raced in the latest generation foil-equipped Figaro Bénéteau3, entries are already flocking in, including the winner of last Vendée Globe, Armel le Cleac’h, 2019 La Solitaire du Figaro runner up Gildas Mahe and British talent Alan Roberts, who was the top ranked international competitor last year.

It will be the fourth time that the port of Saint-Nazaire on the Atlantic coast of France has hosted the race, and the newly labeled City of Art and History, has a special place in the history of La Solitaire du Figaro. Followers of the event will remember the fierce dual between Armel Le Cléac’h and Alain Gautier in 2003, which after a month of on-water racing, saw Le Cleac’h win La Solitaire for the first time by just 13 seconds.

Analysis of the race course by the Race Director:

Leg 1: a 642 mile voyage to the Fastnet and back (August 30 to September 2)

“The only waypoint in this first long leg will be the Fastnet Rock, which they will have to leave to starboard. It is going to be very open for the solo sailors from the start, with everyone attempting to find the right tactics and avoid the traps in the Channel and Celtic Sea,” explained Francis Le Goff. Once they have left Saint-Brieuc Bay, the skippers will head for Ireland while avoiding the rocks around the Isles of Scilly and respecting the various shipping lanes (TSS) to the West of Cornwall on the way out and back. Anything is possible. They can go inside or outside the islands, so we can look forward to an exciting tactical game…

Leg 2: 497 miles to Dunkirk via the English coast (September 6 to 9)

They will have to watch out for all the shipping and sandbanks. “From Saint-Quay-Portrieux, the fleet will head for the Wolf Rock to the South West of Land’s End, and then make their way towards a waypoint close to Antifer light near Etretat before heading for the finish off Dunkirk. In this leg, they are going to have to make sure they are able to remain alert and focused over the final miles. “This is a leg, where keeping a clear head for the final few miles will be key to the outcome,” explained Francis Le Goff. In this second leg, it will all be very open between Wolf Rock and the Alabaster Coast of Normandy, but there will also be a lot of traps lying in store, such as the TSS, which means the room for manoeuvre will be limited all the way to Dunkirk. There is all the cross-Channel shipping between Calais and Dover, and then the tidal currents and sandbanks all the way to the finish. They will have to manage their sleep and that is going to be vital in this leg for them to be able to stay fresh for the final stretch…

Leg 3: a 504 mile coastal leg from Dunkirk to Saint-Nazaire (September 12 to 15)

There are going to be some great sights along the way in this third leg with a wide range of backdrops. The Opal, Alabaster, Mother-of-pearl coasts of Normandy and the Pink Granite coast and craggy cliffs at the tip of Brittany, the Megalithic Coast of Southern Brittany, the Love Coast and Jade Coast of the Loire Estauary area. So many brilliant things to see, yet the leg is full of hurdles: tricky headlands and capes, tidal currents, islands and rocks, fishermen… 500 miles of high-tension sailing, with one eye on the charts, and the other on the sails with some sleepless nights ahead.

Leg 4: a 24 hour and 183 mile sprint between the islands for the Grand Finale (September 19 to 20)

After three hard, testing stages, the solo sailors will have to draw deeply on their reserves for for 24 hours of racing, a loop which should take them between the Ile d’Yeu and Belle-Île via the Ile de Groix before seeing them return to the Loire-Atlantique to crown the big winner of this 51st edition which promises to be full of twists and turns.