Michel Desjoyeaux, three-time winner of the Solitaire du Figaro, was present at the Race Village in Royan. We caught up and reviewed the race so far and the considered the importance of doing the pinnacle race of the French Offshore Racing Championship for sailors with Mich Desj’
You know the Solitaire du Figaro Paprec very well, having raced it many times. What is your view of the start of the race? The first leg might well have been decisive because a good part of it was contested in the English Channel. We saw Alexis (Loison, Groupe REEL) pull away from the pack in his favourite playground, off Cherbourg, and dominate. I think he didn’t get his reward because he was in a difficult position. When you are in front, you are prey to the others who are behind. The finish in Gijón could have been, for once, disastrous but in the end, we were almost close to zero in terms of gaps The stage almost counted for nothing even if it certainly allowed some to get used to it and acclimatize.
The scenario was different on the 2nd stage… Conversely, the 2nd stage became decisive as everything was decided a few minutes before the starting gun. There were those who managed to get out and others who remained stuck. And it continued. The elastic only tightened, but not quite until the finish. This limited the damage since Tom Dolan (Smurfit Kappa – Kingspan) arrived with the opposing current before the wind strengthened, which allowed those behind to close the gaps a little. It's crazy to see how late Basile (Bourgnon, EDENRED) is behind the leader. This stage is not necessarily a true reflection of everyone's overall performance. But that's the game that is La Solitaire. It's a race against time, with the aggregate time computed over the three stages. It's important to remember that. Unlike a points ranking, it favours risk-taking and trying different things out. That's kind of the philosophy of this race. Consistency is not enough, you have to be lucky or make the right move at the right time.
Can the 3rd stage reshuffle the cards? It could be that nothing much more may happen, a few small adjustments here and there, because inevitably, there will be gaps after such a course. But It could also completely redistribute the cards with a lot of reversals of current and strategic choices to make, especially on the outward journey. Between the western part of Sein and the English coast, the playing field is very wide to reach the Channel. You can either take the Four, or go towards the outside of Ouessant. The return towards the English coast can also be decisive since there will be the reversal of the current in England and the passage of the tip of Brittany, with the two key bits which are the passage of the tip of Matthieu in Ouessant and the Raz de Sein. So nothing can happen at all or it can completely redistribute the cards. Tom Dolan seems quite comfortable. Seeing him on the water, we said to ourselves that he was perhaps the one who had sailed the most this year with his trips around Ireland. And that the more you sail, the better it is. And if the motivation is there, that can make the difference.
This year, there were 16 rookies at the start. There are 15 left following the abandon of Louise Acker (Région Bretagne – CMB Océane). What do you think of the younger generation? I don’t think there have often been so many rookies. There are a lot of them now, it’s great! I heard that they are very in favour of doing things that the previous generation wasn’t very inclined to do, like showing people around the boats. It’s important to allow people to discover the boats from the inside. I would like to congratulate this younger generation who are doing very well, who deserve credit for being here and who are also playing the game by sharing our sport, which is first and foremost a passion. We mustn’t forget that.
We often say “pass the Mini first”. But here are Stéphane Le Diraison and Quentin Vlamynck, who come from IMOCA and Ocean50. Now they are not necessarily racing at the forefront of the Solitaire du Figaro Paprec this year. How does the Solitaire du Figaro Paprec help sailors? Whenever people want to do IMOCA or big boats – be they young or old - I tell them to go and do Figaro first or in parallel. I did it a lot when I was sailing on Géant or Foncia. Sailing as much as possible with a lot of confrontation is very enriching. What I find most useful is the level of demand in the Figaro Class. We saw it last year with two competitors who were disqualified. I think they were convinced that everyone was cheating when that is not the case. And we can't cheat besides everything because the boats are identical and everything is checked, between the seals, the weighings and the rest. The best one wins. We can see it as a constraint but it imposes a level of discipline that will serve you all your life. Even if you don't reproduce the same thing afterwards, it will have allowed you to raise your level of rigor. Bravo to Quentin and Stéphane for daring to come to the circuit because often, when I tell people to come and do La Solitaire, they answer that they're going to get a ‘kicking’ but it doesn't matter. You shouldn't admit defeat before starting. You learn so much in terms of the demands that this race requires. The margin for improvement in this race is significant and rapid. And what's more, the season doesn't cost very much for someone who already has another project on the side. When you already have an IMOCA or a big boat, you already have your preparateurs. You only have your race to do and manage. Basically, it doesn’t cost much more than an IMOCA mainsail. And the benefits are incredible. For me, doing La Solitaire du Figaro is essential, unavoidable. Moreover, we see that those who race well in IMOCA are sailors who shone in Figaro first.