Solitaire du Figaro
The Solitaire du Figaro, previously called the Course de l'Aurore, is a solo multi-stage sailing race created in 1970 by Jean-Louis Guillemard and Jean-Michel Barrault.[1] The unique character of the race, the presence of great solo sailors and its being open to amateurs, has made it one of the most cherished races in French sailing.
History
[edit | edit source]From 1970 to 1979 the race was organised by the newspaper L'Aurore. In 1980 the daily newspaper Le Figaro bought out L'Aurore and became the principal sponsor of the event.
From 2003, the eyewear company Alain Afflelou was an associate sponsor. The official name of the race became La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro. Since 2008, the motor manufacturer Suzuki replaced them, and the race became named La Solitaire du Figaro Suzuki.
Since 2011 the title sponsor of the race has been Éric Bompard Cachemire, a French fashion house specialising in cashmere garments.
The characteristics of the race are:
- It starts around the end of July from a French port.
- The race is split into 4 stages of varying length from year to year, from the length of the French coast and making up a total of around 1,500 to 2,000 nautical miles (1,700 to 2,300 mi; 2,800 to 3,700 km) on average. Over the years the race has lasted between 10 and 13 days at sea.
- Each competitor is alone in the boat, participation is mixed.
- Since 1990, all boats are of one design.
Boats
[edit | edit source]In early races, boats were all from the same series. Since 1980, the race used prototype half-tonners.[2]
In 1991, the Solitaire du Figaro made the milestone of becoming a One-Design race. The race organisers chose the Bénéteau Figaro (later called the Figaro Bénéteau I) designed by Group Finot and Jean Berret.
In 2003, a new design called Beneteau Figaro 2 was introduced and it was replaced in 2018, by the hydrofoiling Beneteau Figaro 3.
Past winners
[edit | edit source]Results
[edit | edit source]All places are in France unless otherwise stated.
2003
[edit | edit source]- 1st stage: Les Sables-d'Olonne – Getxo/Bilbao (Spain)
- 2nd stage: Getxo/Bilbao – La Rochelle
- 3rd stage: La Rochelle – Dingle (Ireland)
- 4th stage: Dingle – Saint-Nazaire – 1979 nmi
- Overall results:
- Armel Le Cléac'h (Créaline) in 327h 08min 19s
- Alain Gautier (Foncia) +13s
- Michel Desjoyeaux (Géant) +1h 26min 17s
42 skippers started, 42 finished.
2004
[edit | edit source]- 1st stage: Caen – Portsmouth (England)
- 2nd stage: Portsmouth – Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie
- 3rd stage: Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie – Gijón (Spain)
- 4th stage: Gijon – Quiberon – 1373 nmi
51 competitors.
- Overall results:
- Charles Caudrelier (Bostik Findley) in 220h 53min 54s
- Yann Éliès (Groupe Generali Assurances) +52min 35s
- Jérémie Beyou (Delta Dore) +1h 24min 35s
52 skippers started, 52 finished.
2005
[edit | edit source]- 1st stage: Perros-Guirec – Getxo-Bilbao (Spain) – 390 nmi
- 2nd stage: Getxo-Bilbao – La Rochelle – 368 nmi
- 3rd stage: La Rochelle – Cork (Ireland) – 456 nmi
- 4th stage: Cork – Talmont-Saint-Hilaire – 496 nmi
- Overall results:
- Jérémie Beyou France (Delta Dore) in 248h 49min 20s
- Michel Desjoyeaux France (Géant) +1h 20min 54s
- Kito de Pavant France (Groupe Bel) +1h 58min 41s
- Gildas Morvan France (Cercle Vert) +2h 17min 9s
- France (Groupe Generali Assurances) +2h 24min 22s
- Laurent Pellecuer France (Cliptol Sport) +2h 29min 45s
- Frédéric Duthil France (Brossard) +2h 35min 53s
- Pietro d'Ali
(Nanni Diesel) +3h 5min 12s, first newcomer - Erwan Tabarly France (Thales) +3h 13min 3s
- Charles Caudrelier France (Bostik) +3h 18min 57s
46 skippers started, 42 finished.
2006
[edit | edit source]- 1st stage: Cherbourg-Octeville – Santander (Spain) – 590 nmi
- 2nd stage: Santander – Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie – 314 nmi
- 3rd stage: Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie – Dingle (Ireland) – 549 nmi
- 4th stage: Dingle – Concarneau – 449 nmi
Started 6 August 2006, with 44 competitors.
- Overall results:
- Nicolas Troussel France (Financo) in 297h 01min 56s
- Thierry Chabagny France (Littoral) +1h 56min 55s
- Gérald Véniard France (Scutum) +3h 55min 28s
- Armel Le Cléac'h France (Brit Air) +5h 20min 20s
- Yann Éliès France (Groupe Generali assurances) +6h 33min 07s
- Charles Caudrelier France (Bostik) +6h 57min 50s
- Erwan Tabarly France (Iceberg Finance) +6h 58min 36s
- Oliver Krauss France (AXA Plaisance) +7h 21min 53s
- Eric Drouglazet France (Pixmania.com) +7h 49min 08s
- Kito de Pavant France (Groupe Bel) +7h 58min 03s
2007
[edit | edit source]Started 29 July 2007, with 50 competitors.
- 1st stage: Caen – Crosshaven (Ireland) – 425 nmi
- 2nd stage: Crosshaven- Brest – 344 nmi
- 3rd stage: Brest – A Coruña (Spain) – (shortened to 542 nmi)
- 4th stage: A Coruña – Les Sables-d'Olonne – 355 nmi
After ten competitions, Michel Desjoyeaux was the third French sailor to win his third Figaro race, this one being marked by strong winds (as much as 50 knots (58 mph; 93 km/h) in the last two stages which crossed the Gulf of Gascogne.
- Overall results:
- Michel Desjoyeaux France (Foncia) in 247h 20min 47sec
- Frédéric Duthil France (Distinxion) +26 min 38s
- Corentin Douguet France (Leclerc/Bouygues Telecom) +1h 03min 50s
- Nicolas Troussel France (Financo) +1h 41min 26s
- Gildas Mahé France (Le Comptoir Immobilier) +2h 14min 23s
- Eric Drouglazet France (Luisina) +2h 39min 05s
- Gérald Veniard France (Scutum) +3h 16min 53s
- Gildas Morvan France (Cercle Vert) +3h 19min 48s
- Thomas Rouxel France (Défi Mousquetaires) +3h 29min 34s
- Marc Lepesqueux France (Rapid’Flore Caen-La-Mer) +4h 01min 11s
Nicolas Lunven in Bostik finished first newcomer in 14th place.
2008
[edit | edit source]Started 25 July 2008, with 50 competitors.
- 1st stage: La Rochelle – Vigo (Spain) – shortened to 320 nmi
- 2nd stage: Vigo – Cherbourg-Octeville – 575 nmi
- 3rd stage: Cherbourg-Octeville – l'Aber Wrac'h – (shortened to 471 nmi)
- Overall results:
- Nicolas Troussel France (Financo) in 226h 32min 51sec
- Gildas Morvan France (Cercle Vert) +2h 22min 15sec
- Frédéric Duthil France (Distinxion) +3h 34min 38s
- Erwan Tabarly France (Athema) +3h 53min 57sec
- Jeanne Grégoire France (Banque Populaire) +4h 54min 50sec
- Christopher Pratt France (DCNS 97) 4h 55min 37s
- Nicolas Bérenger France (KONE Ascenceurs) +5h 03min 54s
- Gildas Mahé France (Le Comptoir Immobilier) +5h 52min 27s
- Laurent Pellecuer France (Docteur Valnet aromathérapie) +5h 52min 46s
- Thierry Chabagny France (SUZUKI Automobiles) +6h 23min 08s
François Gabart in Espoir Région Bretagne finished first newcomer in 16th place.
Nicolas Troussel won a race marked by a windless first stage in which he "tué la course" ("killed the race", leading to the neologism "Do a Troussel", in French: faire une Troussel) by arriving six hours ahead.[6] It was his second victory in the race.
2009
[edit | edit source]Started 30 July 2009 for the 40th race, with 52 competitors.
- 1st stage: Lorient – A Coruña (Spain) – 345 nmi
- 2nd stage: A Coruña – Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie 365 nmi
- 3rd stage: Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie- Dingle (Ireland) – 485 nmi
- 4th stage: Dingle- Dieppe – 511 nmi
- Overall results:
- Nicolas Lunven (CGPI) in 285h 56min 55s
- Yann Éliès (Generali) +20min 29s
- Frédéric Duthil (Bbox Bouygues Télécom) +26min 14s
2017
[edit | edit source]Starting on 4 June 2017 from Pauillac, France the 48th edition of the race commenced with 43 competitors:
36 French, 3 British, 1 Swiss, 1 Turkish, 1 Czech and 1 American – a split of 37 men and 6 women skippers took on the challenge.
- 1st stage: Pauillac – Gijon (Spain) – 525 nmi
- 2nd stage: Gijon – Concarneau – 520 nmi
- 3rd stage: Concarneau – Concarneau – 120 nmi
- 4th stage: Concarneau – Dieppe – 505 nmi
- Overall results:
- Nicolas Lunven (Generali) in 247h 8min 52s
- Adrien Hardy (Agir Recouvrement) +34min 32s
- Charlie Dalin (Skipper Macif 2015) +22min 29s
- Rookie prize – Julien Pulve (Team Vendee Formation) in 249h 44min 45s
- Amateur prize – Hugh Brayshaw (The Offshore Academy) in 253h 57min 28s
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).