Last night, all the boats in the 53rd edition of the Solitaire du Figaro arrived safely in Royan, the 32 sailors having finished this 635-mile leg from Port-La-Forêt to Charente Maritime; yet another incredible leg full of twists and turns.
Upwind, downwind, strong or light winds, the skippers will have experienced it all, tried out all the wardrobe, experienced emotional lifts and made the speedometers explode on board their Figaro Bénéteau 3s, enough to gather a lot of experience and to fill the library of memories and emotions for life.
Susann Beucke crossed the line at 23h23’14 after 8d 10h 11mn 44sec of racing: “If you ask me what’s happened, the question would be more what has not happened on this leg? We have seen a lot of strong winds, we have seen light winds, we have seen me very, very happy, we have seen me very sad and frustrated.
“What happened as well is that I learned a lot about myself and my emotions that made this keg quite special for me? Regarding the leg, I hoisted the kite on the downwind leg and it was wind against tide and it was super scary. I should not have done it; I was scared about how I would get it down.
“Now what I will do first is to call my boyfriend and also to welcome Piers. We had a lot of contact with him and so I am looking forwards to hug with him.
Piers Copham – Voiles des anges, last skipper at sea, crossed the finish line this evening at 23h55’25 after 8d 15h 24mn 35sec of racing: “It was a great race in some impressive conditions. Slightly unfortunately I shredded my big kite on the first afternoon and I have sailed for most of the race with no D2s (shrouds) on the mast and so I had to sail very cautiously.
“On starboard gybe coming across the Channel I averaged 14-15 knots and got up to 20kts. It was stunning but great fun. And the second part was a real technical challenge and Sanni and I were overtaking each other for two days, when the wind was up, I got past with the small kite and when it was lighter, she got past me with her big kite, it was a great combination.
“I want to get back on the boat immediately. I started this a bit late. I am not 21 years old any more, but with the combination of the Mini650 and the Figaro this year, I am so hooked on ocean racing. There is something about it which is fantastic. Maybe it is masochistic, you have your own little bubble you live in but there are people around and about you, it is fantastic. A lovely quiet stable bed is what I am looking forwards to.
It would have ruined my reputation if I had not come last and it would have ruined Sanni’s reputation to have come last, so I think we finished in the right order, but with my little kite it was her race.
“The second one is that apparently there are some dolphins released from Seaworld or somewhere which taught the wild dolphins tricks. Coming in about three hours ago, a dolphin jumped out and pirouetted right in front of me, it was extraordinary. Maybe I was hallucinating.”
Follow the race at: https://lasolitaire.com/en/
