There is no gentle introduction to the first leg of La Solitaire du Figaro-Eric Bompard cachemire which starts off Deauville on Sunday, the 38 skippers are straight into the cut and thrust of the match, a 484 miles leg criss crossing the Channel to finish in Plymouth, Devon which hosts the race for the first time ever.
Credit : M Flipo
The course takes the fleet to the Owers – east of the Isle Wight, to Wolf Rock at the Scillies to Astan off Roscoff back across the Channel to the finish off Plymouth and it will set the tone early for the rest of the four stage, 45th edition of the race, which finishes in Cherbourg-Octeville after stops in Plymouth, Roscoff and Les Sables d'Olonne.
The Channel will be as difficult as ever and crossing it back and forth three times will not be easy. The winds are due to be light and irregular. Even if the currents are relatively weak, the tidal gates will be significant on the English coast and the North Brittany coast, and that will make for very tense, tight boat for boat courses with very few tactical opportunities. And endurance, as much as anything, might be the key as current routings suggest the 484 miles course might take up to four days.
It is accumulated time that determines the overall winner of La Solitaire du Figaro-Eric Bompard cachemire. A significant gap in the first leg is very difficult to redress, mentally as well as physically on the following three stages. And the statistics speak for themselves. In the previous 44 Solitaire du Figaro races 18 skippers who triumphed overall won the first leg. Of these 18 seven of them won only the first leg. This course is relatively coastal and compact compared to the usual passages to Ireland or across Biscay to Spain.
This first leg is broken roughly into four stages: 80 miles to Owers, 200 miles west to Wolf Rock, 100 miles SE to Astan at Roscoff and then 100 miles to Plymouth. Whatever the wind direction is for Sunday's start – NNE'y at 8kts is forecast – it will almost certainly be a good mix of upwind, reaching, spinnaker reaching and downwind with a series of gybes. A stormy system is also anticipated and so there will be a period alternating light winds and squalls, sun and rain, big sudden wind shifts, restarts and breakaways, right to the end.
The last section of the first stage traces the course traditionally followed by the Brittany Ferries transporting vegetables to England. This is part of the reason why the company wanted to be part of this 45th edition of this race, setting a prize of 1500 EUROS for the fastest sailor from the Astan mark to the finish at Plymouth.
Goodchild's good feelings….
On the strength of his 11th place last year and many other successes British sailor Sam Goodchild (TEAM PLYMOUTH) carries many high hopes from the nautical city which anticipates their first ever Solitaire du Figaro arrival, but at three days before the start, if there is any extra burden of expectation he carries it lightly. He remains coolly relaxed, having dealt with the welcome addition of some new sails and new electronics during the build up period. Indeed considering that four months ago he had all but given up on his chances of competing in his fourth Solitaire du Figaro – due to lack of funding – he remains grateful that he is here at all.
A local last ditch initiative found a group of Plymouth and SW English companies which grouped together to support him, ensuring he made the start. And now he feels in good shape, ready for what the race throws at him. He plays down a recent second place finish in the recent Solo Basse Normandie race, looking ahead to good, solid, consistent performances as his target rather than considering how to better his 11th.
“ I want to break the top 10 this time. But I am fully aware that I can have a great race and still finish 15th that is what the Figaro is like. I would not say that I have failed if I don't get 10th or better. I am aiming to win it, make no mistake. You take each leg as it comes. You can't start to think about the overall result on the first leg. You need a good solid first leg and most of all to not lose any significant amount of time.” Goodchild says.
Of his level pre-start compared to 2013 he says:
“ It is hard to know if I am sailing better than this time last year. I have new sails, a different sailmaker, some different shapes from Incidences and Quantum, before I was with North Sails. The Basse Normandie was a fairly specific set of conditions. These are quite big changes but that is where the speed comes from, I think they are quicker and I hope they don't take too much getting used to.”
Plymouth will hold special significance – he sailed from there a lot when he was younger and the city are right behind him – but there will be no advantage inherent in getting to home waters: “ I will approach every leg the same. It is motivating of course to win into Plymouth but I'm going to be no less motivated for Leg 2. The only advantage will be I don't have to look at the chart! (jokes) But really the truth is the first part of the leg is like a Fastnet race, from Owers to Wolf Rock and there are as many French people as English have done that race or indeed raced to the Fastnet, so there is no advantage at all. The whole area of the English Channel is just not far enough away from France for there to be any home advantage, I think everyone knows it just as well.”
While his fourth participation in the race has clearly been the hardest in terms of finding money, he does not anticipate competing in it until he wins. He enjoys other areas of ocean and offshore racing…
“ I want to win it. But not to the exclusion of everything else in the future. I love new challenges and relish them. All sailing projects are quite tiring, you never have enough money and you spend more time looking for it than sailing. The reason we do this is because we want to go sailing.”
From Rivacom
