The Solitaire du Figaro is a very special event in many ways, and perhaps is most special to those that get the opportunity to compete and live it.

It seems like a yearly pilgrimage for the guy’s who compete year in year out. Winter training is followed by a slow migration up the West coast of France to the start port of the Solitaire. This year the race starts in Paimpol, but to get there we have had 3 races so far taking us one step closer each time. Starting in the home port of the Vendee Globe, Les Sables d’Olonne we have now raced from Concarneau, L’aberwrach and as I write, I am on delivery to Granville for our final stop on the circuit before the big one.

For 3 of us within the squad, the next 2 months of our lives are very much uncertain. Sam and Nick have had their programmes for the season booked since November for their impressive performances last year. For Ollie, Aaron and I however, we have been fighting it out since November for the final berth in Paimpol. We find out on the 4^th June our fate so by the time I write my next blog our last race to impress the selection committee will be over and a decision will be made.

It has been potentially quite difficult mentally to approach dealing with whether you will compete or not, it’s not a short race, we have all booked off a month of our lives just in case we get the green light, but ultimately only one of us will get it. When the call was made to delay the decision until the 4^th June, it meant very little time to prepare between knowing you were in, to the Prolouge race starting on the 16^th June just under 2 weeks later.

In many ways I have liked the uncertainty, while in my head I have been preparing as if I am doing the Solitaire for over a month now, the need to keep focused and do well in every race right up to the start of the Solitaire could mean you take in great form coming into the event. Or one of us could be completely burned out by start day and have a shocker… I guess time will tell! Anyway with 1 week and 1 race to go, all energy is turned to Basse Normandie starting this Friday, weather, tide, stratergy, routing, boat prep, kit prep and the personal prep all starts again…

Right best get back on deck, 4 hours to Granville and looks like we will make the tide to go straight in and not have to wait outside, bonus!

Allez,

H

After a less than ideal start to my Figaro career in Les Sables, I was keen to put in a performance that I was happy with.

I got off to a good start rounding the first mark in 6th, and settled into around 10th in the few hours after the start. As we passed through the infamous Raz de Sein, with a full 4 knots of tide against I managed to keep with the leading pack as we scooted up the inside next to the lighthouse, precariously close, I could have touched it…

As morning came on the next day I started to sail with a lot more confidence, rather than looking back at who could over take me, I trusted I now had the pace to be with the bunch and started looking for tactical options for where to overtake and position myself on the fleet for the next ‘event’ or change in the wind, tide, course etc.

As we rounded Brivideaux I had managed to work my way to the front of our little group and was getting prepared for the upcoming ‘narm off’ with 25/30 knots close reaching with the kite. Unfortunately I had a mix up with my spi, having to re hoist 3 times before I finally started surfing along with the rest of the fleet in the pitch black at 13-15 knots. Unfortunately doing just 9-11 knots for the half an hour I was sorting myself out while they were doing 13-15 meant everyone just sailed away from me and was now over 2 miles up the road.

As we rounded Yeu none of us were laying it and so needed to get our kites down and reach to the east of the Island to leave it to starboard. The waves were massively confused and its probably the most scared I have been on a boat as I skated around on the bow trying to change my big jib for the small one while under pilot surfing towards the Ile de Yeu in the now building breeze, with just 2 miles till I hit.

Scared potentially is the wrong word, because I remember smiling and thinking, wow this sport is amazing, here I am hurtling along in the pitch black pushing as hard as I can for the smallest gains, exhilarating is maybe a better word! Wow! I will remember that rounding of Yeu for a long time…

17.6 knots top speed is no small feat in the ‘caravan’ of the offshore sailing world, unfortunately while 30 knots downwind with a kite is good fun, the subsequent upwind is the complete opposite. A 90 mile beat back to Concarneau was now on the cards and while the downwind was ‘fresh verging on frightening’ as Aaron would say, the upwind was definitely ‘hideous verging on heinous’.

I kept pushing hard though and when the relief of morning broke on the second day I had managed to get back in touch with the bunch, I had a close finish with David Sineau, who I managed to get ahead of in the final beat to the finish, but then lose again in the last cross coming into the line, doh!

Finishing 14th of 23 and 3rd rookie is an okay result, and to know how many mistakes I made and how much better I can do is massively encouraging, bring on the next race on the circuit, Transmanche! A race from L’Aberwrach on north coast Brittany, round Eddystone lighthouse, Plymouth, and then back again, starting in just 2 weeks time. Sailing round Eddystone is going to be the closest I have been to home for a long time I think, so close but yet so near!

Allez,

H

So it seems the first order of business this week is to clear up a misunderstanding over what has previously been my ‘sign off’ to most of my blogs since starting at the Artemis Offshore Academy. One of the great thing’s about being based in France and mingling with french sailors, coaches and locals, is that slowly but surely I am picking up bits of the language here and there.

One of the first saying’s I learnt was ‘A plus’ (in a french accent of course) meaning, ‘see you’. I therefore decided to adopt it as my sign off, but it has been brought to my attention, by potentially the only 3 people who read my blogs, my Grandparents, parents and now also by Aaron’s girlfriend, (hello Kiki, great name) that it sounds a lot like I am grading my own blogging efforts…

While I hope they are to an A+ standard, such high grading of my own work is not entirely socially acceptable, we leave that to the media powers that be at OC towers.

So from now on, I will be mixing it up a bit and will be using ‘Allez’. Whilst most commonly used as a saying for ‘lets go’ or ‘to go’ it is also a good way to say goodbye but with a meaning to get on and do things afterwards, somewhat appropriate for life as an AOA sailor…

This week I have had a lot to do afterwards, including launching 37 after her little incident and delivering her up to Concarneau where she now sits happily alongside a growing number of Figaro’s all trickling in ready for the next race on the circuit, the Solo Concarneau starting this Thursday. My first look yesterday at the forecast for Thursday showed thick fog for the start, again. After the drama of the 24 hour delayed start for the Solo Les Sables last time around, surely lightening can’t strike twice?

4 days and counting to start day…

‘Allez’

H