Victory for Richomme

Leg two of La Solitaire du Figaro concludes in Paimpol

Yoann Richomme, the 33-year-old sailor from Lorient, at the helm of Skipper Macif 2014, scored an impressive win at the end of an intensely competitive second leg of the Solitaire Bompard Le Figaro today.

After taking over the lead from the initial pace-setter, Gildas Morvan on Cercle Vert, Richomme hung on to first place as the 39 strong fleet raced across the English Channel from Land’s End and made two fast passages of the Chenal du Four and a tour of the Iroise Sea.

Richomme was chased all the way to the line by Nicolas Lunven on Generali, plus his team mate, Charlie Dalin on Skipper Macif 2015 as well as Morvan, but he arrived at the finish at Paimpol 22 minutes ahead of Lunven, 26 minutes ahead of Dalin and 31 minutes before Morvan.

More importantly he was around one hour and 11 minutes ahead of leg one winner Erwan Tabarly who had just a seven-minute cushion over him going into this leg. Thus Richomme has secured his pace at the top of the provisional overall standings.

For Richomme, who discovered sailing when he crossed the Atlantic with his family in 2000, this was a first leg win in the Solitaire on his seventh attempt at this gruelling, four-stage unofficial world championship of solo offshore racing. After that voyage he studied yacht design at Southampton University and was a regular competitor with a student team on the Tour de France a Voile.

After graduating in 2006 he worked as a preparateur for skippers Charles Caudrelier and Nicolas Lunven before joining the Figaro circuit himself in 2010 when he finished second in the rookie rankings. His best overall finish to date has been fourth in 2013. Now he knows he is in the perfect position to clinch his first overall win coming into the halfway stage of this four leg event.

After one of the toughest opeing legs in the history of the vent, leg two was marginally easier with – in relative tearms – in slightly more predicatable weather. But it remained a real test with a long beat down the English coast complete with tidal gates and wind-holes before the challenging sector of the course in strong winds in the rock-strewn Iroise Sea.

Chatham skipper Sam Matson was the first Brit home in 12th, while Solitaire Bompard Le Figaro first timer Will Harris aboard Artemis 77 finished 16th to take the coveted Rookie division lead.

Departing from Cowes on Sunday, Matson and Harris were both looking forward to the fast conditions forecast for the second stage, Matson particularly relishing in the stronger weather usually akin to sailing offshore. Finishing 25th after Leg 1 following damage to his headsail, the 25 year old from Exmouth was determined to make his come back on Leg 2.

Speaking on the dock after the finish, the skipper reported: “I’m pretty tired right now, but happy that I got into good position and managed to hold it to the end of the race.

“I’m really happy with how the leg went and that I was able to stay with the front pack. Sailing fast upwind out of the Solent was really fun. Luckily I knew the waters well through there, so I was able to get into a good position and then I just had to try to maintain it.”

Finishing the leg after two days, 21 hours, 51 minutes and 24 seconds at sea, Matson said he had very little sleep. The race was short, fast and intense.

“The weather was pretty tricky on this leg again,” he said. “Although we had good breeze, at Ushant we were against the tide the whole way. Every time we turned a mark, the tide turned with us. It felt like really slow progress and was one of those moment where you wondered if it would ever end.

“From the moment we got onto the French coast there was no sleeping at all. I think I had 30 minutes sleep on the last day, and when I did sleep I lost out. There just wasn’t the option to sleep, there were rocks everywhere.”

For Harris, Leg 2 was a second chance at taking the Rookie podium. Leading the first timer division for much of the first stage of the race, Harris succumbed to exhaustion in the final hours. Seizing the opportunity, his closest competitor Pierre Quiroga sailing Skipper Espoir CEM overtook and beat Harris to the Needles finish line by just five minutes.

Going into the second stage, Harris was determined to close the gap and reclaim his Rookie title. Resting and recuperating on home turf in Cowes, he went into the race a man on a mission.

“Going across the Channel I had good speed, but the leg started to drag a bit towards the end,” said Harris. “Along the coast of England I decided to go offshore with just a handful of other boats, one of them was Sam (Matson). We managed to catch the new breeze first and I must have gained 10 to 15 places with that one move. I was really happy with that.

“From there I just worked to maintain my position. I was 14th coming into the Raz de Seine, but I knew I had a long way to go still, so I tried to stay awake for the last 24 hours and fend off as many people as I could.”

Completing the 430nm leg today after two days, 22 hours, seven minutes and 55 at sea, the 22-year-old from Surrey finished 11 places ahead of Quiroga in 27th, putting him almost 30 minutes ahead in the overall Rookie standings.

Justine Mettraux (Teamwork) was the second Rookie finisher in 19th on Leg 2, eight minutes behind Harris and now third in the overall ‘Bizuth’ rankings. Quiroga was the third Rookie over the line and is now second overall.

Unable to sail into Paimpol today due to the regions complicated tidal system, top Rookie Harris was his elated with his result, celebrating with his team on the docks in Lézardrieux.

“I’m really happy to have won the Rookie division in this leg, and to be leading overall,” he beamed. “But the Rookie race is definitely not over. There was a 23 hour split between the Rookies on the first leg, and that could easily happen again. Pierre (Quiroga) is not too far behind me, the race is still on for sure!”

Further down the fleet, Alan Roberts aboard Alan Roberts Racing finished in 17th and is now 17th on the overall leaderboard. Nick Cherry sailing Redshift finished Leg 2 in 23rd position and Robin Elsey racing Artemis 43 in 26th.

The general consensus on the dock was that the leg was very tiring and allowed for very little sleep as Cherry explained.

“I don’t really remember when the last time was that I got some real sleep on that leg,” he said. “I think I was asleep when I missed a gybe and went way over the lay line, but I was definitely supposed to be asleep. This is as tired as I’ve ever been on a Figaro.”

“I think my decisions making was impaired by tiredness. The best moment of the race for me was probably coming out of the Solent. It was really great to have all that support and I was in a good position there,” he concluded.

Another of the British Rookie clan, Hugh Brayshaw racing Artemis 23 finished 29th, three places higher than on Leg 1. Andrew Baker aboard #SeaChange is in 30th and British female Mary Rook aboard Artemis 23 finished in 34th.

The stopover in Paimpol looks set to be a quick turnaround, with a parade of sail tomorrow to delivery the boats into the harbour followed by a series of briefings. The sailors will spend just two days in Brittany, before setting off on Leg 3 to La Rochelle on Saturday.

Standings after leg 2