Generali underway tomorrow

Final singlehanded Figaro race before the Solitaire gets under way tomorrow from La Grande Motte

The Generali Solo starts tomorrow, Friday 10 June. Today a short prologue race was held off La Grande Motte in the South of France, and from tomorrow Sam will be competing in two weeks of intense racing along the Mediterranean coast. The event consists of five non-stop offshore legs [the longest being 240 miles] and seven days of inshore windward/leeward racing, finally finishing in Porquerolles on Saturday 25 June.

The first inshore race is tomorrow (Friday) followed by the first offshore race starting on Saturday 11 June. The fleet are due to leave the dock at 0830BST, with the first windward/leeward race due to start at 1000BST. The forecast for tomorrow is for light winds from the north, potentially turning into a seabreeze from the south, varying from 0-15 knots!

Along with Jeanne Gregoire, Sam is just one of the two female competitors in the 23 strong fleet. Sam, on board her Figaro Bénéteau Skandia, is up against some of the best Figaro sailors in the circuit and certainly some of the pre-start favourites for the 2005 Solitaire podium including Eric Drouglazet (2003 Solitaire du Figaro champion and winner of the Trophée BPE 2005 - Sam finished in 5th); Yann Elies (second Solitaire du Figaro 2004 and winner of last year’s Generali Solo); Gildas Morvan (third in the Trophée BPE 2005 and second Generali Solo 2004); and Jéremie Beyou (third Solitaire du Figaro 2004 and third in the Generali Solo 2004).

The Generali Solo Sam’s final competitive training event before this year’s Solitaire and realises the importance of building her confidence with some impressive performances on the water: “I’m really looking forward to getting out there. Skandia was put in the water for the first time on Monday since the finish of the Tropheé BPE, so although we haven’t had a lot of time together since the last race, we have had sufficient time for the preparation for this race and I feel ready to go. I have been studying the weather and tactics for the last few weeks – the Mediterranean is a notoriously tricky area to sail and at last year’s Generali we had to contend with everything.

"The longest leg is only 240nm so the event will be very tactical and my weather tactics and maximising boatspeed will have to be spot on. The Trophée BPE race gave my confidence a real boost as for the majority of the race, I was up there with the leaders so I know my skills have improved ten-fold since my first season in the Figaro in 2003. I will be giving this race 100% but part of my mind is already on the next event – the Solitaire du Figaro – this is the Wimbledon of the Figaro season and everyone wants to win.”

Race schedule

Friday, 10 June: Inshore race 1, La Grande Motte
Saturday, 11 June: Offshore leg 1, La Grande Motte - Port Leucate (130nm)
Sunday, 12 June: Boats arrive, Port Leucate
Monday, 13 June: Inshore race 2, Port Leucate
Tuesday, 14 June: Offshore leg 2, Port Leucate – Gruissan (40nm)
Wednesday, 15 June: Inshore race 3, Gruissan
Thursday, 16 June: Offshore leg 3, Gruissan – Hyères (200nm)
Friday, 17 June: Boats arrive, Hyères
Saturday, 18 June: Inshore race 4, Hyères
Sunday, 19 June: Offshore leg 4, Hyères – La Giraglia - Beaulieu sur Mer (240nm)
Monday, 20 June: At sea
Tuesday, 21 June: Boats arrive, Beaulieu sur Mer
Wednesday, 22 June: Offshore leg 5, Beaulieu sur Mer – Porquerolles (70nm)
Thursday, 23 June: Inshore race 5, Porquerolles
Friday, 24 June: Inshore race 6, Porquerolles
Saturday, 25 June: Inshore race 7, Porquerolles

Entry list (23 competitors)

(skipper/ boat name/ boat number)
ELIES Yann / GROUPE GENERALI ASSURANCES / 1
BEYOU Jéremie / DELTA DORE / 2
TABARLY Erwan / THALES / 4
MORVAN Gildas / CERCLE VERT / 5
DROUGLAZET Eric / MALONGO / 6
DE PAVANT Kito / Groupe BEL / 7
PETIT Benoît / DEFI SANTE VOILE / 9
DAVIES Samantha / SKANDIA / 10
RIECHERS Jöerg* / GERMANYTOO / 11
MOUREN Jean-Paul / MARSEILLE ENTREPRISES / 13
BOS Christian / RAYNAL & ROQUELAURE / 14
KRAUSS Oliver / ESPOIR CREDIT AGRICOLE / 25
EMIG Marc / TOTAL / 30
PELLECUER Laurent / CLIPTOL SPORT / 31
GREGOIRE Jeanne / BANQUE POPULAIRE / 40
PRATT Christopher / PASSEPORT FFVOILE : j´apprends à respecter l’environnement marin / 42
SVILARICH Etienne* / SOGETI-TRANSICIEL / 48
TRIPON Armel / GEDIMAT / 57
DUTHIL Frédéric / BROSSARD / 60
DEFERT Eric* / SIBELIUS / 64
D´ALI Pietro* / NANNI DIESEL / 65
NIGON Erik* / AXA ATOUT COEUR POUR AIDES / 77
VENIARD Gérald* / SCUTUM / 94

* Rookie (first Figaro season)