King restarts his Figaro career

Lymington-based sailor comes 12th in the Massif Marine Solo Les Sables d'Olonne race

Nigel King, from Lymington in the UK, posted a solid result crossing the finish line of the Figaro class' Massif Marine Solo Les Sables d’Olonne Race at 0520hrs on Saturday 21 March.This 12th place from a race which included many top French solo sailors who regularly feature on the podium in this class shows King to be in a good position. After 40hrs 16mins, first place went to Fred Duthill, 2nd Corentin Duguet, 3rd Thomas Rouxel King finished 1h 14mins behind the leader.

Conditions for the race were very good for this time of the year, with clear blue skies during the day giving warm summer like sailing conditions, however night times were bitterly cold and competitors were regularly experiencing winds up to 25 knots.

23 competitors crossed the start line in this year’s Massif Marine Solo Les Sables d’Olonne Race, a 320 miler along the west coast of France, taking in the islands of Ile de Ré, Belle Ile, with the start/finish and turning marks off the beach in Les Sables d’Olonne, home to the legendary Vendee Globe. The event acts alongside the Ports de France Solo Concarneau in May, as one of the two qualification races for the all-important La Solitaire du Figaro this year running from the end of July through most of August. This event is similar in length to individual legs of the Figaro and allows participants to size up the likely opposition and train for the main event.

During the race two boats retired including Antoine Koch onboard Sopra due to injury after falling inside his boat and Didier Boulliard onboard Medevent, who experienced gear failure.

This is King’s third time campaigning his Figaro Beneteau II Blue Note on the Figaro circuit. King qualified and competed in the main Figaro event in 2007, but was forced to pull out mid way through after suffering major electrical problems in the third leg from Brest to La Coruna during atrocious storm conditions in the Bay of Biscay. In 2008, having qualified again for the main event King was unable to secure enough sponsorhip to compete and concentrated on other sailing commitments.

“I am very happy with my start to the 2009 season, there is a good way to go to be at the level I want to get to, but I came here with a plan and think I managed to stick to it pretty well. I regarded this very as a training event having not been able to do any training before hand, so to be able to stay with some top boats is a really good feeling. That said, there is still a huge amount to do before I will consider myself as really competitive across all conditions but I am more than ready for the challenge I have set myself” commented King.

Previously basing his boat in France, King is now basing his Figaro campaign in the UK this year with sponsorship from Dean & Reddyhoffy Marinas allowing him to train out of their brand new marina in Portland. King’s list of sailing industry sponsors continues to grow, however the search for a title sponsor to provide the resources necessary to compete on a level playing field with the top French teams teams effectively is ongoing.