Solitaire du Figaro preview

41 singlehanders to take place in the singlehanded offshore racing world championship this August

The annual Solitaire du Figaro sets sail on 4 August from Boulogne-sur-Mer. Many view this as the effective world championship of singlehanded offshore racing. The race is sailed one up in one design 30ft Beneteau Figaro Solos, so aside from typical one design tweaks to the boat, results are entirely down to the skill of the skipper in the many disciplines necessary to do well in this type of racing.

This includes everything basically, from steering, trimming, navigation, tactics to more mundane but no less vital aspects such as the ability to fix things should they go wrong or break. But in addition there are some challenging personal disciplines necessary to do well in this race - like sailing flat out for 3-4 day periods virtually without sleep (the four legs are each around 350-450 miles in length). This event is worthy of the 1980s yuppie adage 'sleep is for losers'.

Leg one runs from Boulogne-sur-Mer along the south coast of the UK around Land's End and up to Crosshaven in southern Ireland where the boats are expected to arrive on 8 August. Three days later they depart Ireland for the Vendee Globe start/finish port of Les Sables d'Olonne. Leg three kicks off on 18 August and heads up to Belle Ile and then doglegs south to Gijon in northern Spain. The final leg starts on 25 August and sees the boats heading back north into the Channel to the finish line in Cherbourg Octeville where the fleet are due on 29 August.

This year numbers are down and there are none of the French 'rock stars' such as class regulars Florence Arthaud and Philippe Poupon taking part. This is for a variety of reasons - it is a Route du Rhum year, but more significantly this is the last season for the class in their current boat, before changing to a smart new Marc Lombard design for next season. A prototype of the new boat is scheduled to be unveiled in Cherbourg at the finish.

Still there is still a highly competitive fleet with a number of up-and-coming young blades and a few in their 40s and even 50s, who fall into the mid-life crisis category.

What is fantastic about this class and why an equivalent is needed in the UK and indeed any country where there are sailors with pretentions of getting into the French Open 60 and trimaran classes, is that it is a perfect class in which budding sailors can hone their skills and for those who prove themselves it is a stepping stone up to greater things. In France many top dinghy sailors and those who have moved on from their Olympic aspirations end up in the Figaro class.

Among the 41 entrants are 12 first timers (known as 'bizuths') and one woman, Jeanne Gregoire who came 8th in last year's Mini Transat and has since been campaigning in the Figaro class.

Looking at the characters involved there are more than 10 people who are capable of winning this year. Race favourite must again be Eric Drouglazet who won the event last year and came second in the two previous years. Of similar experience to Drouglazet is Gildas Morvan who infuriatingly has come third in the last three races.

At just 26 Jerome Beyou has already taken part in this race five times before and hits the top five with an impressive consistency - he was fifth in 2000 and fourth in 2001. Ronan Guerin at 29 has sailed the race seven times before with mixed results, his best being sixth in 2000, but without a Mini campaign to squeeze in at the same time, he seems to be more on form this year and scored a third place in this year's Transat AG2R.

Top of the budding talents is 25 year old Amel Le Cleac'h who was second in 2000 on his first attempt. That kind of performance normally means you end up with a 60ft trimaran in your hands a few years down the track. Sebastien Josse, who was the nipper on Orange for their Jules Verne Trophy record earlier this year ,is also up there. He was second last year. It is a similar story with fellow Orange crewman Yann Elies, who came sixth in 2001. Their navigator/meteorologist from the big cat, Gilles Chiorri, is also taking part, with a 4th in 1998 and a 6th in 1999 under his belt.

Also highly rated is Arnaud Boissieres who has made the transistion this year from the Mini class (he came third in last year's Mini Transat and was a regular top three finisher in that class. Last but by no means least is Eric Tabarly's nephew Erwan, who previously has done well in the Mini class and this year scored a fifth in the Transat AG2R.