Solitaire du Figaro 2005 course

Familiar course but one extra stopover for singlehanded offshore one design championship

La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro 2005, the singlehanded Beneteau Figaro one design class top event will run next year between five ports (one more than previous years) over a course of 1,710 miles long with the usual balance between inshore and offshore racing, the shortest leg being 368 miles, the longest 496. During the race the solo sailors will spend some 12 days at sea between France, the Basque Country and Ireland.

La Solitaire du Figaro will start from Perros-Guirec on 7 August. This town has strong ties with the class and has hosted the race the most number of times, starting in 1972 with the Course de l’Aurore. In 2005, the race returns to Perros-Guirec for the 15th time .
The first leg takes the 'Figarists' some 368 miles south to Getxo-Bilbao in the Basque country in north Spain. Symbolically this port was home to Sebastian El Cano, the first man in history to sail round the world.

The second leg sees the Figaros heading back to France for La Rochelle, where the boats will be moored in the Grands Yachts Basin in the historic heart of the city.

Leg three see the boats head for Ireland, where Cork 2005, the European Capital for Culture, will host the Solitaire du Figaro in Crosshaven. The final stage of the race, longest at 496 nautical miles, will confirm the winner of La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro 2005, upon their arrival in Port-Bourgenay just south of Les Sables d'Olonne in the Vendée Region.