I
t’s a concern. For the second year in
a row there will be no British rookie
in the newcomers ‘Bizuth’ division
of La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro.
Of course it is not the one and only
pathway into solo and shorthanded
offshore racing and beyond, but when
you see the acceptance of Jack Bouttell
and Sam Goodchild on to high profile
French programmes then for me it
is a worry that there is now too little
support to bring on a new generation
of Bouttell and Goodchilds. They both
really learned their foundation skills in
the Figaro and did enough during their
time on the circuit to make the French
sit up and take notice. By all accounts
Bouttell – who was top Rookie in 2013- is doing a solid job on Dongfeng
in the Volvo Ocean Race, while
Goodchild has had a frustrating winter
as part of the Spindrift team waiting
to take on the Trophée Jules Verne.
La Solitaire reaches its 49th edition
this September, the dates having been
moved later to avoid the madness of peak
summer and French holidays, and as it
stands it looks like there will be just three
Brits involved: Nick Cherry returning
on Redshift after a year’s hiatus; Alan
Roberts; and Hugh Brayshaw.
Roberts is fully engaged with the
Figaro training programme in Port La
Fôret, and Cherry and Brayshaw are in
Lorient. Even though the chat is so much
about next year’s 50th edition – the first
with the new Figaro 3 – this season looks
set to have a strong entry including 10 or
12 French sailors in the rookie division.
“Already I think there is something
of a shortage of boats because some
people have started selling theirs off so
they can put down their deposit on the
new Figaro 3, but I still think it will be
a big, high quality fleet,” says Charles
Darbyshire of the Offshore Academy
and Fourth Cape. “There is a contingent
coming in from the Mini class and they
will be good competitors from day one;
the thing is they know how to keep going
and survive when it is tough, that can
be half the battle in the Figaro.” Even
with five or six Figaros under their belts
Nurturing the next generation of solo offshore sailors is crucial to encourage more
talent into a discipline where Britain remains worryingly under-representedAndi Robertson
YACHTS
The change to the Figaro 3 will
hopefully entice a few more private
owners to buy boats for their own use,
supporting or allowing racers to use
them for the major events. “There is
some interest there, it is a good looking
and exciting boat. It would be great
to get some doing the RORC racing
two handed, and for RORC to really
embrace it and encourage it as a one
design class,” Darbyshire contends.
But, he believes, there will be a very
good second life for the Figaro 2s that
are now coming on the market.“They
are such solid boats and for something
like €40,000 there is a lot of life in them.
For maybe a couple of guys with a Sigma
33 or something much more expensive
then they represent really good value.”
The course for this summer’s 49th
edition of La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro,
sadly does not visit the UK this year – as
it has done in the last few editions – but
passes up and down the Channel. It
starts from Le Havre and passes
north and races along the south coast
of England to Wolf Rock, passing
through the Channel Islands to Saint
Brieuc. The second leg crosses Biscay
to Ría de Muros-Noia in northwest
Spain. The last long leg goes back to
Saint Gilles Croix de Vie – home of
Beneteau – where there is one short
final loop to complete the course.Few people
can match Andi
Robertson’s insight
into the big boat
world, both in the
UK and globallythere is no right to a good result earned
by simply having done so many races.
Look at Gildas Morvan, three times
French champion and a multiple leg
winner but even after 20 editions he
never won the race overall. But Cherry
and Roberts do now have what it takes
to hold in the top 10 through the race.
“The challenge really is to get into the
culture and both Alan and Sam have
done that, buying houses in Brittany,
but it is also the passion and attention
to detail that makes the difference at the
very top of the field. When these top
French guys are not sailing they are still
on the water looking at the race course.
Look at Charles Caudrelier; he was into
his spear fishing and he would go and
dive the rocks and passages,” Darbyshire
adds. “The thing about La Solitaire is
that it can go any way. Literally, the guy
who was third last year was 25th the year
before, and the guy who was third the
year before was 25th in this last edition.”
The pursuit of sponsorship money
and private support is absolutely
fundamental to The Offshore Academy
and Darbyshire says there is still a
difficulty in pitching La Solitaire to the
UK market. “We have made a change
in our approach, looking to package it
in Europe with an event like the Route
du Rhum. In some respects it is easier
to ask for €400,000 than €150,000.”Above
This year’s 49th
La Solitaire URGO
Le Figaro will
be the last for
the Figaro 2ALEXIS COURCOUSNick Cherry and Alan Roberts do now have what it
takes to hold in the top 10 of this year’s La Solitaire
14 April 2018 Yachts & Yachting yachtsandyachting.co.uk