When the 55th La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec starts off Le Havre tomorrow history will be made as the first ever Le Défi Paprec starts at the same time. This is a new initiative which is designed to give amateurs or up and coming sailors the chance to race one complete stage of the race double handed to gain valuable experience and an insight into what competing on the full, three stage solo race would be like.
And the new idea seems to have worked. Not only are there eight duos set to take on testing the 604 nautical miles leg from Le Havre to Wolf Rock and down across the Bay of Biscay to Gijon in northern Spain but three pairs are from outside of France.
Brits From Great Britain young Ellie Driver is partnered on Chilli Pepper by compatriot David Paul who has already raced three La Solitaires. Since getting into offshore racing just four years ago Driver has raced many thousands of miles double handed with her dad on their SunFast 3300 of he same name, including the Round Britain in 2022. She won the European Double Handed Worlds and finished runner up in the Double Handed world championships. Paul is a late substitution and so the duo have not yet sailed together.
American-Spanish duo Catherine Chimney and Aina Bauza Roig (American Sailboat Racing Foundation) are also new to each other but both have substantial offshore racing experience. Born in New York but now living – mostly - in Newport RI, Chimney was born into a sailing family and has Kiwi dual nationality. En ex Laser campaigner she has raced offshore in the USA, New Zealand and Europe. Bauza, from Palma, Mallorca is also an ex Laser campaigner who was on the Spanish team and is now an accomplished Mini and Figaro 3 sailor. She set a Transatlantic record in the Mini between Cadiz and the Bahamas in 30 days. She has done two Tour of Italy races on the Figaro 3.
Viva Mexico! Carlota Alonso Alexander and Jeronimo Cervantes Belausteguigoita (Ehécatl) are the first Mexicans to compete on the Figaro 3 circuit in Europe. They have been friends for many years and while it was ‘Jero’ who first told Carlota of the Figaro many years ago it was after moving to France to study and get into offshore racing that she invited him to come to France to race on the Défi Paprec.
For Driver, 22, who has just graduated in Maritime Engineering is looking long term to a Vendée Globe, this is a step along the way to doing the full La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec.
“I have had my mind set on doing La Solitaire and the Figaro circuit for a couple of years now. In fact I only got into offshore sailing in 2021 as COVID ended. So for me the main goal now is to do the Solitaire next year and this year to see what the Figaro class is all about, to get involved with it all, and see if it is really what I want to do. Since I started offshore it has been such a steep learning curve and to have done so much with my dad has been very special.”
She adds, “Long, long term Vendée Globe is my dream I love the idea of sailing round the world non stop conquering everything you should be able to do, and showing everyone that dreams coming true is possible and inspiring more girls to go sailing, to get into engineering and STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) into sports and doing what they want to really do with their lives.”
“I think my navigation has become a strength over these four years, I have really enjoyed learning about the weather and how to use it. I am very much self-taught This year is about learning, about learning the class, learning the scene and working best how we go on from here into next year and beyond.”
Mexican Carlota Alonso Alexander worked as an intern on The Ocean Race, an experience which just made her want to get back into racing and sailing. Of her co-skipper she explains, “ He is a really good friend from Mexico who taught me how to sail 49ers when I was younger but since then we really get along well together. We sail different boats, like on the VO65 Viva Mexico in Alicante, but he was the one who mentioned the Figaro a few years ago in Mexico. And so when I arrived here and started sailing Figaros I told him and he was crazy jealous. And so I said we should find a race to do together and here we are.”
“We have complementary skills. He knows the navigation and bigger boats and I know the Figaro and the performance of these boats and also we have complementary personalities. I think we will be a good team.”
“ It feels great to be the first Mexicans to race in the Figaro. It is an important and a great thing to maybe motivate young Mexican sailors to do this, and it is all possible. We are proud of us, we are proud to see our flag up here. It has been a lot of work to be here and I have just done three months working for the Olympics in Marseille. This is our first race together but we hope to do well. We have worked hard on the navigation, on the strategy. But mainly we just want to finish and do a good race. We have only done a little sailing on the boat, five or so days and some nights.”
‘Cat’ Chimney's most recent experience has been a lot of Class40 racing, most recently the Round Ireland but she did finished year’s Bermuda 1-2 with Cole Brauer. Like her Spanish co-skipper Aina she was previously an Olympic team level Laser sailor – albeit as a contemporary of the likes of Paige Railey and Anna Tunnicliffe.
“This is kind of the next step.” Says Chimney who works as a chemical materials engineer with Bunzl who are very supportive of her sailing, and who have a business relationship with Paprec, “It is great that they put on a double-handed event because unlike, I think, unlike a lot of people here I don’t have any interest in going solo. For me crewed is too many and solo is too little. I wouldn’t say ‘never’. I would never say never. But it’s just not that… but as far as hitting the Southern Ocean, that’s something that I would want to do someday but not alone. One day be able to go and that’s the only continent that I haven’t been to is Antarctica and the only way I want to see it is when I wave on the way by and that’s it. From a distance. I’d I would really like to do the Globe 40.”
She and Bauza are the only all female partnership in the race and have the makings of a strong performance even if they only met a few hours before delivering their boat to Rouen. “I think compared to other races I’ve been on, the boat’s fairly well ready to go.” She smiles, “Um, I think the strengths are both her and I have been on the boat before so that’s a positive, I think the routing is something that with Aina being a mini sailer and the difference there compared to the Class 40 sailing will definitely be a strength for us and then we just have to figure out the teamwork.”
Mallorcan Bauza has been living in France for four years and is also intent on making her way up from the Mini, “I’m going on race this because I like the class, and I want to be involved but right now I don’t have much timing with other projects going on, but they offered me to do that as co-skipper so I was like ‘okay, perfect.’ I just arrived and everything is ready. For me it is a great opportunity. I did quite a bit of Figaro 3 sailing in Italy but right now I am too involved in the Mini to do more, so this suits me fine as a co-skipper.”