Solitaire de Figaro sets sail tomorrow

We look at this year's race, the entries and favourites

50 sailors will set off from La Rochelle tomorrow at 13:00 on the first of three legs of La Solitaire du Figaro, the key event of the Figaro solo sailing calendar.

The 2008 edition will cover 1,880 miles over three legs: La Rochelle to Vigo in Galicia, then a return leg to Cherbourg in France before the final marathon leg of 826 miles (the longest leg in the 39 year history of the race) to L’Aber W’rach on the northern tip of Brittany, by way of the Isle of Man in the north Irish Sea.

Race Director, Jacques Caraës has formulated a course that is long, tactical and testing in offshore sailing skills. “The decision to provide longer and further offshore legs comes down to popular demand from the sailors, and I see the standard as high and capable of dealing with the challenges the course will provide” explains Caraës on the eve of the start. The 465 mile leg from La Rochelle to Vigo “will be a warming up session for the sailors” he continues, “crossing the Bay of Biscay is never without it’s problems, and do not be fooled, because it may be the shortest leg, in terms of distance, but it could well end up taking longer that you expect.”

The one-design Figaro Beneteau boat is enjoying continued success and the following of the solo sailors. For the highlight event of the season, 11 rookie sailors join the competition together with four highly experienced women sailors, another record in the race history. Jeanne Gregoire on Banque Populaire and Liz Wardley on Sojasun will be joined by two new aspiring Figarists, Mini sailors Elodie Riou ( KPMG) and Isabelle Joschke ( Synergy).

The growing international following the event is currently enjoying is reflected in the arrival some new faces on the circuit. There are five non-French sailors in all, some familiar to the scene; Italian, Pietro D’Alì returns for the 4th consecutive year flying the colours of his new sponsor, Mc Cool, Antonio Pedro da Cruz, from the Cape Verde Isles, but truly settled in the France for years, returns for the third time on Baïko, Liz Wardley originally from Papua New Guinea, but now ensconced in the heart of the sailing mecca that is Brittany, returns for her fifth participation with her green boat, Sojasun. New to the Figaro scene is Isabelle Joschke, joins the Solitaire for the first time with Synergy. Joschke, born in Munich and now settled in France, made a name for herself in the Mini class, where she was a regular winner and will be one of the rookies to watch closely. Last but not least, Andy Greenwood from the UK comes to try his hand and gain some Figaro experience. At 26, he is young and experienced in other areas of sailing, but the Figaro is new and a challenge he is ready to tackle. “I see this year as an opportunity to understand and get some experience in this discipline, but really would like to train and work on an ideally three year plan,” he explains.

This evening’s weather briefing provided by Meteo France will give final food for thought for the 50 sailors who studiously prepare their strategy for tomorrow’s start.

Cercle Vert wins the Suzuki Prologue race

Gildas Morvan, participating for the 13th time, crossed the finish line first in the Suzuki Prologue on Cercle Vert yesterday. François Gabart on Espoir Région Bretagne was the first rookie with a well-earned 7th place.

But who's going to win the main event?

In our view the Figaro class is going through a transition phase this year with fewer of the 'big names' competing for a variety of reasons, Michel Desjoyeaux and Loick Peyron are competing in the Vendee Globe and Alain Gautier has other commitment (D35, Alinghi, etc).

This year there are probably 10 likely candidates in with a shot. Our favourite is probably Nicolas Troussel, winner of the event in 2006 and who also won the Figaro championship last year, but equally Fred Duthil is also at the top of his game having won two legs of the event last year, but ultimately losing the event to Michel Desjoyeaux. The old hands Eric Drouglazet and Gildas Morvan are still more than capable of winning - they picked up third and first places respectively in this year's Course des Falaises. Thomas Rouxel and Gildas Mahe are also regular top five placers and finished the 2007 season in second and third places. Also in with a good chance are former Mini Transat winner Corentin Douguet and Gerard Veniard, who would have won the event in 2006 had it been scored on points per leg as opposed to cumulative elapsed time.

We should also not forget Jean-Paul Mouren, who competing in the Solitiare for his 22nd time this year is not out of contention. Earlier this year he and Laurent Pellecuer won the two handed Transat AG2R.

Of the Rookies, competing in their first Solitaire, Francois Gabart has had the most time in the boat having raced in the class (but not the Solitaire) last year but two hotshots from the Mini class are also to be watched out for in Adrien Hardy and Isabelle Joschke.


The line-up (by participation)
Name, boat, no of times taken part before, (best result)

Jean-Paul MOUREN - M@RSEILLENTREPRISES - 21 (6thin 1991)
Eric DROUGLAZET - LUISINA - 15 (winner in 2001) Gildas MORVAN - CERCLE VERT - 12 (3rd in 1999-2001)
Laurent PELLECUER - DOCTEUR VALNET- AROMATHERAPIE - 11 (6th in 2005)
Christophe LEBAS - LOLA - 8 (8th in 1998)
Thierry CHABAGNY - SUZUKI AUTOMOBILES - 7 (11th in 2004)
Jeanne GRÉGOIRE - BANQUE POPULAIRE - 7 (12th in 2005)
Erwan TABARLY - ATHEMA - 7 (5th in 2004)
Nicolas TROUSSEL - FINANCO - 7 (Winner in 2006)
Romain ATTANASIO - DCNS 62 - 6 (12th - 2002)
Christian BOS - REGION MIDI PYRENEES - 6 (33rd in 2007)
Antoine KOCH - SOPRA GROUP 1 - 6 (8th in 2002)
Nicolas BERENGER - KONE ASCENSEURS - 5 (11th - 2007)
Marc LEPESQUEUX - LES CONQUERANTS DE NORMANDIE - CAEN LA MER - 5 (8thin 1995)
Frédéric DUTHIL - DISTINXION AUTOMOBILE - 4 (2nd in 2007)
Franck LE GAL - LENZE - 4 (12th in 2007)
Armel TRIPON - GEDIMAT - 4 (22nd in 2007 and 2006)
Gérald VENIARD - MACIF - 4 (3rd in 2006)
Liz WARDLEY - SOJASUN - 4 (17th in 2007)
Pietro D’ALI - MC LOUIS - 3 (8th in 2006 and 2005)
Antonio Pedro DA CRUZ - BAÏKO - 2 (40th in 2007)
Corentin DOUGUET - E.LECLERC MOBILE - 2 (3rd in 2007)
Laurent GOUEZIGOUX - BOISTECH - 1 (37th in 2007)
Grégoire LE MIERE - OTCEX GROUP - 2 (36th in 2007)
Alexis LOISON - ALL MER INEO SUEZ - 2 (31st in 2007)
Gildas MAHE - LE COMPTOIR IMMOBILIER - 2 (5th in 2007)
Robert NAGY - THEOLIA - 2 (27th in 2006)
Christopher PRATT - DCNS 97 - 2 (17th in 2006)
Thomas ROUXEL - DEFI MOUSQUETAIRES - 2 (9th in 2007)
Ronan TREUSSART - GROUPE CELEOS - 2 (15th in 2007)
Aymeric BELLOIR - CAP 56 - 1 (26th - 2007)
Vincent BIARNES - COTES D’ARMOR - 1 (16th in 2007)
Didier BOUILLARD - MEDEVENT - 1 (44th in 2007)
Jean-Philippe LE MEITOUR - LA VOIX DE L'ENFANT - 1 (47th in 2007)
Nicolas LUNVEN - FONCIA - 1 (14th in 2007)
Jean-Charles MONNET - DEGREMONT SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT - 1 (35th in 2007)
Jean-Pierre NICOL - GAVOTTES - 1 (32in 2007)
Eric PERON - L'ESPRIT D'EQUIPE - 1 (29th in 2006)
Frédéric RIVET - BUREAU-CENTER - 1 (27th in 2007)
Fabrice AMEDEO - AQUARELLE.COM - Rookie
Philippe BARD - MORILLON.FR - Rookie
Eric D'HOOGHE - FMC RECYCLAGE - THOMPSON RECYCLAGE - Rookie
François GABART - ESPOIR REGION BRETAGNE - Rookie
Grégory GENDRON - SOPRA GROUP 2 - Rookie
Andy GREENWOOD - IMTECH - Rookie
Adrien HARDY - AGIR RECOUVREMENT - Rookie
Isabelle JOSCHKE - SYNERGIE - Rookie
Nicolas JOSSIER - ESPRIT VOILE 50 - Rookie
Elodie RIOU - KPMG - Rookie
Malko SZEKELY - REGION BASSE-NORMANDIE - Rookie