Solo world championship

La Solitaire Afflelou le Figaro gets under this weekend from Cherbourg

44 skippers are in the process of making their final preparations for the start, this coming Sunday, of the 37th running of one of the most famous of French sailing events, the La Solitaire Afflelou le Figaro.

Often described as the unofficial world championship of singlehanded offshre racing, this annual race, divided in to four legs, is one of the key events of the single handed sailing calendar. The race entry list sinclude 41 men and three women. The majority are French, with the exception of Samantha Davies from England, Liz Wardley - originally from Papa New Guinea, Pietro D’Alí from Italy and Antonio Pedro da Cruz from the Cape Verde Islands.

The line-up also boasts some of the worlds most experienced singlehanded sailors. These include several past winners - Charles Caudrelier, Kito de Pavant, Eric Drouglazet and Armel le Cleac'h as well as several other skippers who have come so close - Erwan Tabarly, Yann Elies, Gildas Morvan to name a few. In addition, lurking among the 44 is Open 60 Jean-Pierre Dick who is using the event as training for his new Open 60 campaign.

Proceedings get underway tomorrow with the traditional inshore opening regatta, the Afflelou Prologue. Cherbourg, one of the main ports in Southern Normandy, has welcomed the fleet of Figaro Bénéteau 2 one design class boats for the week leading up to Sunday’s start with a race village and entertainment for all who visit. Some 15,000 people have flocked to see the boats and visit the 36 stands in the race village. The start gun for the opening regatta is due to be let off at 14h3 local time for a race that is roughly 9 miles long and consists of a start heading East with a traditional banana course format.

The expected wind direction is northwest 10 to 15 knots and should provide an impressive spectacle for the public and spectator boats on as they attempt to finish in second place. According to the old Figaro superstition, winning the Prologue Afflelou means you do not win the race overall!

Schedule for La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro 2006
• CHERBOURG OCTEVILLE
Race Village opens: Monday 31 July
Afflelou Prologue: Friday 4 August
Start 1st leg: Sunday 6 August
• SANTANDER (Spain) - 590 miles
Organisers arrive: Monday 7 August
Expected arrival of the boats: Thursday 10 August
Start 2nd leg: Sunday 13 August
• SAINT-GILLES-CROIX-DE-VIE - 314 miles
Organisers arrive: Monday 14 August
Expected arrival of the boats: Tuesday 15 August
Start 3rd leg: Friday 18 August
• DINGLE (Ireland) - 545 miles
Organisers arrive: Saturday 19 August
Expected arrival of the boats: Tuesday 22 August
Start 4th leg: Friday 25 August
• CONCARNEAU - 449 miles
Organisers arrive: Saturday 26 August
Expected arrival of the boats: Monday 28 August
Afflelou Closing Regatta: Wednesday 30 August

Entries:

	Rookie?	Name	DOB	From	Boat Name
1	R	AUBERT Jérome	1977	GIEVILLE	La Normandise
2		BERENGER Nicolas	1972	La Grande Motte	KONE Ascensceurs
3		CAUDRELIER CHARLES	1974	La Forêt Fouesnant	BOSTIK
4		CHABAGNY Thierry	1972	Nevez	LITTORAL
5		D'ALI Pietro	1963	Gênes, Italy	NANNI DIESEL
6		DAVIES Samantha	1974	Portsmouth, UK	ROXY
7		de PAVANT Kito	1961	Montferrier sur Lez	GROUPE BEL
8		DEFERT Eric	1976	Ile Tudy	SUZUKI AUTOMOBILES
9	R	DICK Jean-Pierre	1965	Lorient	VIRBAC-PAPREC
10	R	DOUGUET Corentin	1974	Locmiquelic	E.LECLERC-BOUYGUES TELECOM
11		DROUGLAZET Eric	1967	Tregunc	PIXmania.com
12		DUTHIL Frédéric	1973	Larmor Plage	Brossard
13		ELIES Yann	1974	Saint-Brieuc	Groupe GENERALI assurances
14		EMIG Marc	1969	Marseille	A.ST Groupe
15	R	GOUEZIGOUX Laurent	1981	Hillion	COTES d'ARMOR
16		GREGOIRE Jeanne	1976	Concarneau	BANQUE POPULAIRE
17	R	ISRAEL  Erwan	1980	Carqueiranne	DELTA DORE
18		KRAUSS Oliver	1980	La Forêt Fouesnant	AXA PLAISANCE
19	R	LE BAUT Jimmy	1972	Les Sables d'Olonne	PORT OLONA
20		LE CLEAC'H Armel	1977	Fouesnant	BRIT AIR
21		LE GAL Franck	1973	Plouharnel	LENZE
22	R	LE MIERE Grégoire	1967	Le Havre	MAN OF ALL SEASONS
23		LEBAS Christophe	1969	Cherbourg	ARMOR LUX
24	R	LOISON Alexis	1984	La Glacerie	Région Basse-Normandie
25	R	MAHE Gildas	1975	Concarneau	LE COMPTOIR IMMOBILIER
26		MORVAN Gildas	1968	Landeda	CERCLE VERT
27		MOUREN Jean-Paul	1953	Marseille	m@rseillentreprises
28	R	NAGY Robert	1963	Hyères	THEOLIA
29	R	PEDRO DA CRUZ Antonio	1966	Cape Verdes	BAÏKO
30		PELLECUER Laurent	1974	Montpellier	CLIPTOL SPORT
31		PELLET Jean-François	1970	Talmont St Hilaire	LUBEXCEL
32	R	PERON Eric	1981	Pont L'Abbé	CIGO
33	R	PRATT Christopher	1981	Marseille	ESPOIR CREDIT AGRICOLE
34	R	ROUXEL Thomas	1982	Brest	DEFI SANTE NUTRITION
35	R	SEGUIN  Damien	1979	Crac'h	AltéAd Pays de la Loire
36		SVILARICH Etienne	1980	Perros Guirec	SOGETI
37		TABARLY Erwan	1974	Fouesnant	ICEBERG FINANCE
38		TOULORGE Alexandre	1978	Cherbourg	STARKEY
39	R	TREUSSART Ronan	1982	Saint Brieuc	GROUPE CELEOS
40		TRIPON Armel	1975	Nantes	Gedimat
41		TROUSSEL Nicolas	1974	Plougasnou	FINANCO
42		VACHETTE Vincent	1971	Paris	SCO SAVEUR ET VIE
43		VENIARD Gérald	1970	La Rochelle	SCUTUM
44		WARDLEY Liz	1979	Papua New Guinea	SOJASUN