Anaëlle Pattusch is the only non-French skipper among the 11 Bizuths, or first time rookies, who are set to take on La Solitaire Figaro Paprec for the first time. After growing up in Versoix, close to Geneva and racing dinghies on Lake Geneva, she is following in the wake of the Justine Mettraux who raced on La Solitaire du Figaro finishing 3rd Bizuth in 2016 going on to seventh in 2017 and 11th in 2018. But it was a meeting with Mettraux’s British friend, former skipper and rival Sam Davies which set 21 year old Pattusch on a path into the Figaro class. Indeed it was Davies boat she first sailed and has now chartered for La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec.
“ This is my first season on the Figaro and so the main goal is just to discover how everything works and that has gone pretty well and so I have learned to manage the boat, how to do the manoeuvres, and now the main goal is to finish this race and enjoy the race. I have learned lot. I am pretty confident going into the start. I have been training out of Lorient for three years now with the Mini 650 and started this season on the Figaro.” Says Pattusch.
She has her sights set firmly on a pro sailing career, “It is a like a childhood dream, this is the professional sport I want to follow and so this is the normal path to follow right now, in the Figaro. I met Samantha Davies and she told me she has a Figaro why don’t you start with it in parallel to the Mini. So now I charter her boat and my goal next year is to do the Transat Paprec and La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec next year.
Like for the whole Mettraux clan and many other Swiss offshore racers, Lake Geneva was her first sailing playground, “I trained on 29ers and Lasers. But I did an internship with Alan Roura, the Swiss IMOCA skipper in 2020. I learned the offshore boats with Alan, before that it was just dinghies, but it was in Lorient that I learned about the Mini 650, the Figaro and of course the IMOCA and all about offshore sailing and solo projects. For now I had a sponsor who came with me from the Mini but it is a little bit difficult finding the budget but I am searching now for money for the Transat Paprec and La Solitaire Paprec. And I have a foundation in Geneva which helps me.”
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And she is mainly looking to build experience on this race, “For this race as a Bizuth I want to finish the race, to enjoy every part of the race. I don’t really have any ambitions for the result, I can’t give a number.”