Armel Le Cléac’h wins 41st Solitaire du Figaro 2010

On Wednesday 18th August at 21.15.24, Armel Le Cléac’h crossed the finish line of Leg 4 placed in the Bay of Cherbourg. It took to Brit Air’s 54 hours, 30 minutes and 24 seconds to cover the 435 miles of the last lap at an average speed of 7.98 knots. This summer le Cleac’h proved to be the man of all records. At 33 years of age he wins this 41st edition after having heavily dominated the race (with 3 leg wins) and enters the very selected club of double winners, thanks to his first victory back in 2003. Le Cleac’h was followed shortly on the line by Corentin Douguet on E.Leclerc Mobile and by François Gabart who thus secured second place overall.

Credit : Courcoux Marmara / Le Figaro

Armel the master
From Le Havre to Cherbourg, sailing to Gijón, Brest and Kinsale, Le Cleac’h showed exceptional speed and focus, he was clearly in harmony with himself an his boat, in control of his strategy. This was his karma and his Solitaire, probably more than it was in 2003, when he first won with and historical lead of only 13 seconds on Alain Gautier. If it weren’t for a minor mistake on the third leg to Kinsale he could have easily got a clear score. He “only” achieved three, which is already an outstanding performance.
At his young age the skipper from Morlaix has already five leg wins and two overall victories in his cv, and he only raced his first Solitaire in 2000. He officially enters in the very selected group of skippers who won the race twice along with his longtime friend Nicolas Troussel and famous sailors such as Jean-Marie Vidal, Gilles Gahinet, Guy Cornou and Gilles Le Baud from the seventies and eighties.
Called ”Mémel” by his friends and “the Jackal” by his adversaries he’s become by all mean one of the single handed offshore sailing celebrities, with his second place in the last Vendée Globe and two wins in the Transat AG2R, as confirmed by today’s brilliant performance.

In this 435 miles long leg, 90%of which was sailed under spinnaker, Armel got into the lead just after the Fastnet rock and resisted all his competitors’ attacks and namely Corentin Douguet (E.Leclerc Mobile), François Gabart (Skipper Macif 2010) and Eric Peron (Skipper Macif 2009).

A new star is born
By finishing in third place François Gabart obtained a second place overall. Only 27 years old, he already took part three times to the Solitaire but this year confirmed to be come of age and a determination as strong as his older colleagues’. With his pale blue eyes and crop of blond hair, his good humour and excellent communication skills he will surely remains as one of the leading characters of the 2010 Solitaire du Figaro.

From La Solitaire du Figaro