Richomme seals the deal

Skipper Macif showdown decided in La Solitaire Bompard du Figaro

Yoann Richomme on Skipper Macif 2015 adhered rigidly to his final leg game plan and stuck close to his one real title rival, Skipper Macif team mate Charlie Dalin throughout the 130 mile, 24-hour sprint final leg around the Ile de Yeu, to win the 47th La Solitaire Bompard Le Figaro into La Rochelle by just five minutes and 10 seconds.

Dalin, on Skipper Macif 2015, had led Richomme all the way around the unusually short final leg. He extended his lead by over three-quarters-of-a-mile during the early afternoon transition into a new sea breeze and it looked like Richomme’s first Solitaire title was in jeopardy. 

But when Dalin crossed the finish line in sixth place at 14.58:36 local time this afternoon, Richomme was 1.4 miles from the line and the only thing standing between him and overall victory was the clock. But, as if on cue, the wind increased, and Richomme accelerated to over nine knots – his fastest speed of the afternoon - to clinch his first Solitaire title. As he approached the line, he knew he had done enough and the 32-year-old Frenchman from Lorient leant back, let the tiller go and raised his arms above his head. With the cheers of well-wishers ringing in his ears, he stood and punched the air before rocking back onto the side deck in sheer joy.

“I was quite scared actually,” admitted Richomme of his run against the clock to secure victory. “The wind can drop off. You can so easily get slowed down for two or three minutes and that got me worried. I had done the calculations beforehand in terms of what I had to do. “I have dreamt of doing this for so long but you can’t ever imagine what it feels like now, what this is like. It is going to take me a long time to grasp what this means.

“I feel so great. I don’t even feel tired now. It is such a huge achievement and you don’t ever really think you will do it. It was a very tough Solitaire. The winds were so unstable all the time. It was hard to sleep on all three-and-a-half legs. But I have never pushed so hard. I have never pushed myself so hard. I have never trimmed the boat so much. I think Charlie and I just raised the level a bit this year. We did so much tuning of the boats together, even more than I have done on any programme over the last 13 years of my sailing career. We do so much mast and rudder trimming, always tiny changes to the sail trim. We have done an awful lot.

“I have done more than most other skippers. Charlie is very driven, very aggressive and pushes himself so hard. I learned a lot from sailing with him on the AG2R LA MONDIALE although we did not finish it. We messed it up. That seems so far away right now. It was Charlie’s boat so congratulations to him to get the boat set-up and back in the top of the fleet so quickly.

“We race for the same sponsor, we have the same preparateur and we share a lot of things. We stay in the same houses and try to have the best possible approach to every aspect of our sport. We are professional and have a cook working with us through the race so we don’t lose time in the restaurants. There are so many little things that we have raised the game with.

“There has been some tension and we have not really spoken much. But there has not been much to say. We know each other well. I have known him since 2006. We can talk about anything. I don’t know what this will do for my career. I want to take some time now and think about it. Professionally I want to keep on getting better. I want to be involved in bigger and better projects. I want to do the Vendée Globe or the Volvo, that is for sure. If at one point it slows down I might do something else. I love crewed racing. I miss it a lot. I come from the Tour de France and I am not a big fan of single-handed racing but I do it because it is the single most competitive circuit that I know where you can actually make a living. A Volvo would be amazing me. But at the moment I just want to see.” 

This was the first time in the 47 editions of the multi-stage, solo offshore racing championship that one team has taken the top two positions. Richomme and Dalin’s Skipper Macif 1-2 completes the sponsorship programme’s remarkable portfolio of blue riband victories, now adding the Solitaire to the Transat Jacques Vabre, the Vendée Globe, the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe and the Transat bakerly.

Brothers-in-arms, Richomme and Dalin have trained together in the Skipper Macif colours out of the famous Pôle Finisterre training base that has produced winners of the last 14 Solitaires, strengthening each other’s game. Richomme and Dalin were dismasted 154 miles from Madeira in April when racing together in the Transat AG2R La Mondiale two-handed transatlantic which they started as favourites to win.  

Richomme’s winning race

Richomme may have finished second on leg 1, but he had put four minutes and 30 seconds on the skipper who would be his closest rival through the race...Dalin. Significantly, into Cowes the top-four skippers already had one hour or more on those chasing.

Leg 2 was where Richomme laid the foundations for his overall victory, winning into Paimpol, but adding a further 26 minutes to his lead over second placed Dalin, who was third.

On leg 3, Paimpol to La Rochelle, Richomme led, but he let Dalin off the hook during the early morning beat from the BXA turning mark past the Isle d’Oléron. Dalin finished ahead – winning after Xavier Macaire was penalised – and took 16 minutes back from the Solitaire leader. Richomme started the last, all-Macif showdown leg 14 minutes and 8 seconds ahead of Dalin.

Richomme, 32, always listens to music when he is racing. “I could not race without it,” he says - is something of a late starter to offshore racing. It was only 16 years ago on a family cruise across the Atlantic with his father that his passion for sailing offshore was really ignited.

In 2003 he enrolled on a yacht design degree course at Southampton Institute and immediately set up a student project to compete in the 13-stage, 1,000-mile Tour Voile. He managed three subsequent Tour Voile projects.

Moving into the Figaro class, Richomme worked as preparateur for Charles Caudrelier and Nicolas Lunven before starting out on a low budget Solitaire programme in 2010, going on to finish second rookie. It was only on his third attempt at the Skipper Macif programme that he was chosen. Richomme won his selection to the Skipper Macif project in 2014. Dalin was chosen the following year.

The Skipper Macif project is one arm of what is one of France’s biggest and most successful sailing sponsorships. The giant insurance company, which has a large leisure marine division, supports grass roots training of cruising sailors in concert with the Féderation Francaise de Voile. The Skipper Macif initiative is focused on the Solitaire, selecting and nurturing talent over a three-year period. The company has a long history of sailing sponsorships but started the Skipper Macif programme in 2008. The competitive selection process includes practical exams, race results, media training and psychological profiling to measure motivation. The reward is a top-level programme with highly successful preparateurs – boat technicians who prepare and maintain the boats – dedicated coaches within the Pôle Finisterre training centre in Port La Fôret, meteo training, strength and conditioning and nutritional support.

The most successful graduate is the prodigious François Gabart who was selected to the programme in 2009 and finished second in the Solitaire in 2010, becoming France’s solo offshore champion that year. Successively Gabart then won the Transat Jacques Vabre and Solo B2B on his Macif-backed IMOCA 60, a prelude to becoming the youngest ever winner of the Vendée Globe at 26-years-old in 2012-13. Gabart is now engaged in setting solo records on the giant 30-metre maxi trimaran Macif.

The Brits

After four legs between Deauville, Cowes, Paimpol and La Rochelle, totalling almost 1,500 nautical miles of solo offshore racing, Alan Roberts posted this year’s top British result in 16th, with 2016 winning Rookie Will Harris less than an hour behind in 17th.

The final 130-mile race around the Ile d’Yeu was a nail-biter from start to finish. Lasting just 20 hours, as the 39-boat fleet battled strong tides, light winds and a blazing sun. After 1,365 miles, the race was decided in the final 100.

Meanwhile, arriving half an hour after leg 4 winner, Gildas Morvan on Cercle Verte, the top-British competitor Alan Roberts arrived on the dock in the sunshine in La Rochelle, surrounded by his teammates and cheered into the harbour by the crowds.

He was disappointed the race was over. “I’m kind of sad to see the Solitaire coming to an end,” said Roberts. “I live to go racing and now its over. I don’t really like finishing racing and coming ashore.”

Of his overall performance, he added: “I was down on speed during this Solitaire and I feel that my result was a bit governed by the first leg. I just never really sparkled in speed department like I felt I had in other years, but I had some really good comebacks to finish every leg.

“I understand a lot more and have an additional experience of the Solitaire under my belt – I feel like a better sailor," he concluded. Roberts is sure to be back for another year."

Next on the British podium was an elated Will Harris. Setting out to win the Rookie division, the 22-year-old skipper today made his ambition a reality: “After thousands of miles I can’t believe it all came down to the final two,” he said, celebrating on the dock with a magnum of Pol Roger Champagne while draped in a Union Jack. “Pierre (Quiroga) pushed me so hard over that final leg, I was always looking over my shoulder. The race was amazing, such a great thing to be a part of.

“I am amazed. In my dreams that leg could not have gone better. As it was a night race I could keep pushing and pushing and I did not need that much time to rest. Getting top rookie was my main goal but to get an eighth and push my overall result up in the rankings is just great. And to beat Yoann across the line was a good feeling. When the new sea breeze came in Pierre (Quiroga, rookie rival) made a good tactical choice and I followed him and I got through Yoann. I get on well with Pierre, we are good friends, and before races we always line up together and are very close.” 

Just five minutes behind Harris in the combined elapsed time results was Redshift skipper Nick Cherry. Cherry completes the top-three British results in 18th place on his fifth Solitaire. Greeted by his mum, Anne, he was happy with the consistency of his sailing, but frustrated at his overall result. He is already looking forward to his next crack of the whip.

“I’m comfortable with my final position, even if a bit disappointed at not being further forward,” he said. “It’s not just the racing you go through, there is also all the winter training and preparation – it’s those long nights at sea in January that are the most difficult. Racing is always a pleasure, no matter what.”

He continued: “I just want to get a result. It’s frustrating to have come here five times and not really have had a strong result yet. But it’s a hard race and not everyone can do well, so I’m still motivated to keep on trying.”

Next on the leaderboard was Chatham skipper Sam Matson. After a disappointing start to the race following breakages, Matson pulled the rabbit out of the hat on Leg 2, securing his best result of the race - a 12th. After a further two legs, Matson finished 21st overall on his third Solitaire.

Four places behind Matson in 25th was Robin Elsey on Artemis 43. Despite sustaining some impressive damage to the underside of his Figaro after hitting a rock on Leg 2, Elsey put in a consistent performance across all four legs.

Racing his second Solitaire Bompard Le Figaro, #SeaChange skipper Andrew Baker finished the race 26th overall, while British Rookies Mary Rook was 32nd, with Hugh Brayshaw 35th.

Every skipper who took part in the race achieved something significant today, completing a gruelling solo offshore marathon that only a select few will ever be good enough to start. Regardless of the result, all eight of the British sailors, the 29 French, the one Swiss and one Turkish sailor can be proud of what they have achieved.

Charles Darbyshire, GBR, project manager Artemis Offshore Academy said: “Winning the Rookie division is not the key to future success but it is an important rite of passage. When you look at who has been top rookie in the past, almost all the top names of French sailing, then it will be great for Will. And for him to have such a great battle with Pierre all the way around, to finish with an eighth place in the final leg, it is great to see.

“I think most of the British sailors will be disappointed with where they have ended up, all for different reasons. But if you were not in the top-eight after the end of Leg 1 then you were not in the game anyway. That may have had a knock-on effect. Alan Roberts could never really improve on where he was after Leg 1 and that is hard mentally through the rest of the race. Particularly this year we had such high expectations. Sometimes the race does not go your way. It was the toughest course I have seen since I have been watching since 2003. The conditions were not so tough but if you were not in absolutely the right place at the right time it spat you out the back. But it was a great contest. In the last 10 miles between Yoann and Charlie the race was won and lost, and won and lost, so many times.”

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