Start of La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro
July 30, 2003

The 42 skippers in this La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro got off to a clean start from the Sables d’Olonne in the Vendée under broken cloud in 15 knots of west north-westerly, closed-hauled on starboard tack in slightly choppy seas. They shifted away rather slowly at an average of 4.5 knots. Ahead of their bows on this the first of four legs lie 449 miles. The fleet are bound for a race mark off Lorient before sprinting south down to Bilbao-Gexto in Spain. The first round the windward mark at 1442 BST was Pascal Bidegorry on Région Aquitaine, followed by Charles Caudrelier (Bostik Findley), Jérémie Beyou (Delta Dore), Gildas Morvan (Cercle Vert) and Alain Gautier (Foncia). 2001 Figaro winner, Eric Drouglazet (David Olivier) was 8th, Michel Desjoyeaux (Géant) 9th and Franc-Yves Escoffier 10th.

Making good progress towards the Eaux Saines mark west of Bourgenay there were 20 or so boats grouped together under spinnaker in a long 1.5 to 2m swell making an average of 6.5 knots. At the mark, Bidegorry was still leading the fleet, with Morvan and Beyou within 8 seconds behind. Further back Sander Bakker (Egeria) unfortunately wrapped his spinnaker around the forestay in front of his fellow Mini 6.50 friends at the Mini Transgascogne prize giving in Bourgenay. Close to the coast the fleet rounded the Radio France mark 1645 BST with 4mins 24 secs between Bidegorry, Beyou, Caudrelier, Armel Le Cleac’h, and Alain Gautier first to cross, Michel Desjoyeaux 7th and Loick Peyron 10th. The first rookie was Marc Emig, Tour de France à la Voile expert, in 18th, Mini Transat sailor Le Blevec 19th, Jeanne Gregoire 20th and Sam Davies 23, the girls having a fantastic race just 9mins 31 and 11mins05 from the leader respectively. Italian sailor Corrado Agusta was 38th, Basque Unai Basurko de Miguel 42 and Sander Bakker 42nd. Early days...

The fleet will later be sprinting offshore as the forecast is for WNW 17-18 knots for the first 24 hours veering NW and set to decrease late tomorrow. Sleep is likely to be limited initially with the fleet grouped together. Some substantial gaps may well have opened up at Spineg, 10 miles west of Iles de Glenan at the end of the first very tactical coastal part. “We’ll then have to take on the open ocean as far as Bilbao and this is set to be fairly tactical with the little wind forecast, said Gilles Chiorri (skipper on 32 01 Météo Consult). We’re going to have to work flat out, be opportunist and original in our choices. Second last year I am a world away from first! With all our boats being the same it’s the skippers that will make the difference. I’m going to be careful as the Solitaire is a constant battle against yourself, your doubts, your waves of fatigue and your excesses of confidence”.

Mini-Transat and Maxi-Cat sailor, Sam Davies (Skandia): first UK female entry for 25 years since Clare Francis competed in 1976..."Just the start will be challenging with 42 boats fighting for the line...I want to have a good but clean start and try and race my own race. Right now, there are lots of unknown factors and you don't find these out until you have raced against the other Rookies...Thousands of people have passed to see the boats and hoping to catch a glimpse of the solo sailors...it is an amazing atmosphere and something totally new for me...I have been downloading some final weather information from our weather router, Meeno Schrader. I have been getting these in fax form over the last few days to get me used to reading the information in this way as that is all we will get during each leg along with the daily weather update transmitted by the organisers via VHF. No assistance from the shore is allowed in any way, and the boats have no satellite communication equipment at all. For me at the start of any big race it is a big relief to leave the dock, you know you can't do anymore preparation and all you can do is just go out there and race. The adrenalin is pumping...I feel excited and a bit nervous too. I have spoken to my parents and my aunt and uncle our here in their boat to support me...it means a lot to have the support of everyone close to you and also from the general public who have shown up here. Once you have done the first leg it gives you a better idea of how to approach the rest of race... Right now, there are lots of unknown factors and you don't find these out until you have raced against the other Rookies... Some will struggle and you will see others getting right into it - I hope I am one of those that can shine early on.”

Mini-Transat sailor, Yves Le Blevec (Reve de Grand – Actual Interim): “It’s going to be a fine race with doubtless a few tears. At the end of the day though it is just a crossing of the Bay of Biscay. I’m relaxed and happy to be going out on the water with such great competition. There are plenty of people that could win it but I would say my favourite is Erwan Tabarly – he’s the most robust of us all. Yann Eliès also handles the pressure well. Of course I hope that Le Blevec will be the top amongst the rookies, he’s not great but he’s nice! It’s all down to the individual now. There is the NKE system aboard each boat (a device which overrides the automatic pilot so that the boat stops if the sailor falls overboard) which is a good idea. The only thing with that is that if something goes wrong the fault may be put down to others and that isn’t part of the philosophy of single-handed sailing.”

Sander Bakker (Egeria): “I’m ready to go. Being positioned between 10th and 20th is not an option but I do hope to rank well amongst the rookies. It’s something else to be on the same start line as some of the greatest names in French sailing. Back home in Holland I have big posters of Mich Desj (Michel Desjoyeaux) and Alain Gautier on my toilet wall! I’ve always thought that maybe one day I might be able to sail against them... well maybe not against them but behind them at least! In my country the majority of people think the Figaro is a haircut but those that race see it as a pretty hard foreign circuit that seems to be the crux of French racing, a race which most of the successful big names have been part of at some stage. I hope to make the race more widely known back home. In Holland people see the Figaro as adventure sailing and are inspired by this. Light winds are planned for this first leg so there will be lots of concentration needed to play the shifts and not a huge amount of adventure. The adventure will be to stay focussed. I’m certainly going to do my best.”

Unai Basurko de Miguel (Bizkaia): “I feel good ...I really want to get going, get away from all the pre-start problems and preparation. During the Prologue I was sailing without a tiller extension and I broke my spinnaker. Since then I’ve got a new stick and I’ve repaired the spinnaker so everything is pretty much in order. The Basque Government are sponsoring me and I’m really hoping that they are going to be there to greet me in Bilbao with a little more money so that I can really get the boat in shape. The Figaro isn’t very well known in the Basque country. The most famous single-hander is Jose Luis Ugante who has participated in the BOC Challenge and the Vendée Globe but there are not many like him – perhaps we’re too sociable as a nation! My objective is obviously to finish but I will be trying to do the best I can – it would be great to be the first rookie. It’s a huge learning curve.”

Kito de Pavant (Crash Bandicoot):“ I’m not going to hide the fact that I haven’t felt in the match since my victory last year. I lost a lot of time in the preparation of the boat looking for a budget. I didn’t take part in the Générali Méditerranée like the majority of the tougher competitors but I feel more relaxed today as a result. We have a fine leg ahead of us with a bit of game-playing, little wind, calm and a little wind behind. That suits me, I’ll take whatever there is: the coastal course and the crossing, the wind holes, the anticyclone and the little fluctuations… a great programme in view!”

Jeanne Grégoire (Skipper Ag2r) : “The road is a long one. I’m always a bit sleepy at the start. That’s obviously my way of dealing with stress and it’s true that I’m not very talented in that part of the race. I’m not going to panic though”.

Laure Faÿ / Kate Jennings