Skandia newcomers' prize

Solitaire du Figaro concludes with awards to class newcomers

Skandia, the international long-term savings company and a leading supporter of sailing, became an official partner to this year's La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro as supporter of the Rookie division for first-time participants. At the prizegiving ceremony held on Sunday night in Quiberon, Skandia rewarded the talents of the Rookies.

Overall winner of the Rookie division was French sailor Jean-Luc Nelias who was awarded the top prize of 3000 euros and a trip to Australia to compete in Skandia Geelong Week, Australia's oldest and largest sailing regatta. Jean-Luc Nelias is no stranger to sailing success having competed in many top solo and crewed events both in multihulls and monohulls - he won the Quebec-St Malo race in 1996 and finished 2nd in the 2003 Transat Jacques Vabre but this was his first participation in the highly contested Solitaire event. Unfortunately, due to sailing commitments, Nelias was unable to take up the opportunity to race at Skandia Geelong Week and donated this part of the prize to second-placed Rookie Gérald Veniard.

For Veniard, who lives in La Rochelle, France, this is a complete bonus to a sailor who said before the start "I find myself at the start...as if by a miracle!" Veniard has achieved national acclaim in the Melges class but had done little solo sailing. By participating in Skandia Geelong Week next January, Veniard will have the opportunity to sail on a variety of different keelboats throughout the week.

The second prize of 2000 euros went to the best international newcomer in the fleet, Hervé Favre from Switzerland. Favre finished 8th overall in the Rookie division having successfully met the challenges of solo sailing in their harshest form. The Solitaire skippers have to sail nearly 1500 miles solo over four different legs that delivered both light winds at the start to 50 knot gusts on the final leg. Favre, aged 34 and who lives in Geneva, had previously competed in the Mini Transat Newport-Bermuda-Newport race in 2003 and the two-handed Transat AG2R this year, knew that the Solitaire would deliver the "highest test in offshore racing".

As official race partner to La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro this year, Skandia extended their support of new sailing talent as part of their Skandia Set Sail portfolio. Last year, Skandia sponsored British sailor Samantha Davies who finished as second-placed Rookie and have continued their support of Davies this season as Davies clinched 19th overall out of 52 competitors.

"We have watched this year's race unfold in dramatic style in both the overall fleet and the 17 boats competing in the Rookie division," said Andre Oszmann, Skandia's Group Marketing Director. "Jean-Luc Nelias put in a fantastic performance to finish at the top of the Rookie Division but to also finish 7th overall in his first year of competition was extremely impressive, and our congratulations go to him. But it is a great delight to know that Skandia's inaugural support in this event will benefit two sailors who have much to achieve in their sailing careers. We wish Hervé Favre and Gérald Veniard every success and we look forward to welcoming Gérald to Skandia Geelong Week next January."

This year's Solitaire began from Caen on 27th July with stopovers in Portsmouth (UK), St Gilles Croix de Vie (France), Gijon (Spain) and Quiberon (France).

FINAL POSITIONS - ROOKIE DIVISION:
1 Jean-Luc Nelias, Chauss-Europe 224h26'13"
2 Gérald Veniard, Scutum +4h39'19"
3 Frédéric Duthil, All Mer +6h39'14"
4 Oliver Krauss, Espoir Crédit Agricole +7h04'09"
5 Armel Tripon, Gedimat +11h55'18"
6 Rodolphe Jacq, Skipper AG2R Prévoyance +13h13'36"
7 Brieuc Maisonneuve, Pays Granvillais +15h38'41"
8 Hervé Favre, World Games Inc +17h33'25"
9 Franck Le Gal, Monaco Marine 18h41'22"
10 Gael Bigot, Team 117 +22h00'17"
11 Marie-Albane Daniel, Acadomia +24h20'33"
12 Benoit Lequin, Nannidiesel +25h12'39"
13 Bertrand Lecharpentier, Entreprendre en Pas d'Auge-Calvados 25h39'04"
14 Vincent Vachette, Duc et Preneuf +27h53'17"
15 Pascal Desmarets, Tetraktys +28h33'10"
16 Liz Wardley, Kokkai-Eoi +33h16'34"
17 Philippe Bossard, Karukera +39h56'57"