Solitaire du Figaro - 24 Hours To Go Before The Start Of Leg 1
July 29, 2003

SAM COMMENTS:

LEG ONE: "The first leg is a coastal leg first as we have to go up the channel at Lorient 150 miles north from the start at the Les Sables d'Olonne. This should take less than a day and will depend on the wind direction as to whether we are rock hopping or not. Then we have some islands that we have to decide which side to go, so the early stages of this leg are really tactical. Then basically we go offshore south to Bilbao-Getxo which will be a sheer sprint for about 270 miles so effectively no sleep! At this point when you go offshore it could be easy to relax too much here, but you have to keep pushing. At this point we will probably see some fleet seperation amongst the 42 boats...the sprint south to Spain will take about 3 days...they will be long days that's for sure!

"As much as I can I will have my strategy sorted the day before including the tactics for the early stages of the race but these depend on the fleet and the other boat to boat stuff going on... Plus any major weather changes or local influences so you kind of have a game plan but have to be flexible as well.

"The hardest part will be the long offshore section...to keep pushing and to keep my levels of concentration at a high level."

TWO FEMALE SKIPPERS: "I have known Jeanne since the 1999 Mini Transat which we both competed in together and we have been friends ever since. Jeanne is a really good sailor - she raced the whole Figaro season last year and also attends the governement-funded Port Le Foret centre training with sailors like Armel Le Cleac'h and Jérémie Beyou. As well as the on water training they also work on weather, fitness, etc. We have normally finished pretty close to each other in the earlier Figaro events of this season so we are good adversaries!

"Jeanne was the only girl in the fleet so now there are two of us which I think is easier for her as the media don't just focus on her as the only girl. The media are always asking me about how it is to compete against Jeanne. To be honest, you don't even think about who you are racing against when you are on the water, you just do it. Occasionally strength matters but not significantly enough to make a difference to the results, especially in the long races. There is no excuse out here and it is totally a level playing field. I think more brain power is required then strength on this circuit!"

Jeanne Grégoire is 26 years old and finished in 26th place overall and 2nd placed 'Bizuth' (Rookie) in last year's Solitaire du Figaro.

THE COURSE:

Prologue:
Monday, 28 July
Les Sables d'Olonne

Leg 1: Les Sables d'Olonne (France) to Bilbao-Getxo (Spain)
449 miles
Depart Les Sables d'Olonne, Wednesday 30 July
Arrive Bilbao-Getxo, Saturday 2 August

Leg 2 : Bilbao-Getxo (Spain) to La Rochelle (France)
494 miles
Depart Bilbao-Getxo, Tuesday 5th August
Arrive La Rochelle, Friday 8th August

Leg 3 : La Rochelle (France) to Dingle (Ireland)
536 miles
Depart La Rochelle, Monday 11th August
Arrive Dingle, Friday 15th August

Leg 4 : Dingle (Ireland) to Saint Nazaire (France)
500 miles
Depart Dingle, Monday 18th August
Arrive St Nazaire, Thursday 21st August

INTERESTING SOLITAIRE FACT:
The race started in 1970 - the course was 650 miles with just 12 boats entered.

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Business partner to the Offshore Challenges Sailing Team