Solitaire du Figaro - Two Brits on Rookie podium after leg 4

by Artemis Offshore Academy on 3 Jul 2014 On Wednesday 2nd July, eight wind swept, salt crusted and physically exhausted British solo sailors dropped onto the docks in Cherbourg, France having just finished the 2000 mile Solitaire du Figaro 2014. Team Plymouth skipper Sam Goodchild was the first British skipper across the Leg 4 finish line in 13th, seeing him finish his fourth Solitaire du Figaro 22nd overall.

Cheerily popping his celebratory bottle of Pol Roger champagne, after finishing Leg 4 23rd and 26th in the ranks overall, Redshift skipper Nick Cherry summed up the skippers windiest leg yet with 'that was hard, I’m knackered.' Pushing hard over the final 10 miles of the shortened 440-mile course, 2014 British Rookie Sam Matson regained three positions on the home straight - enough to see him cross the finish line 25th and third Rookie in the leg. On the overall leader board, Sam secured a superb 15th position overall in his first Solitaire du Figaro and second Rookie overall - a fantastic follow up for the Artemis Offshore Academy and British solo sailing after Sam Goodchild’s best of British result (11th) and Jack Bouttell’s historic British Rookie win in 2013.

'Coming in from a tough fourth and final Solitaire du Figaro leg to find out that I was 15th overall and second Rookie was absolutely overwhelming,' said an elated Sam on the docks. 'It’s an unbelievable achievement. My main goal was to get on the Rookie podium and I’ve done that and to finish 15th overall is absolutely incredible. When you look at Jack last year finishing top Rookie in 21st overall, and this year for me 15th is second in the Rookie division – it really shows the level of the Rookie competition this year. It’s not been easy, but Gwenolé Gahinet is a great guy and he deserved the win.' Gwenole took the overall Rookie win after Leg 2, widening the gap between him and Sam by 52 minutes and 19 seconds by the end of Leg 4.

Crossing the Leg 4 finish line 26th of 36 competitors, GAC Pindar skipper Jack Bouttell was frustrated with his boat speed, but enjoyed the windy and more typical Figaro leg. Having had just five days of training compared with 55 last year, Jack was content with his result: 'My ideal overall result going into the final leg was top 20; however, considering the hard work I’ve put into the boat this season just to get it to the start line, I’m not too upset with 25th overall. I’ve learned so much this season running my own campaign, especially about the management and sponsorship side of Figaro racing. I’m thinking that if I can put my sailing and training from my first year of Figaro, together with my experience managing a campaign and sponsorship – my third year on the Figaro circuit will be a pretty positive one. I’ll be back.'

Arriving in Cherbourg, Artemis 77 skipper Rich Mason was disappointed with his Leg 4 result finishing 28th.. Realizing that he had taken the last spot on the overall Rookie podium, Rich soon had a smile back on his face – making it two at the top for the Artemis Offshore Academy in 2014: 'I was gutted when I got in because I thought I’d lost my Rookie standing in the leg and overall, but then I was told I’m third which is brilliant and cheered me up a lot! It feels good to have finished my first Solitaire du Figaro and, if I’m honest. it feels great to be back on the dock. Leg 4 was a hard leg and definitely the most physical of the four with the wind and all the driving.'

Fed up of the three super light wind legs that had preceded Leg 4, the eight man Brit-pack had their fingers crossed for a breezy finale to see out the 2014 Solitaire du Figaro – their dreams haunted by flapping mainsails. Launching their Figaros along the north western coast of France in 30 knots under spinnaker, the sailors got what they wanted with Rich reporting: 'There was so much water crashing over the boat, I even got seaweed down below! We all wanted a windy leg, but I am physically broken after a really hard leg with very little sleep and plenty of hard driving. Now I’m thinking be careful what you wish for!'

Starting the fourth and final leg of the race from Les Sables d’Olonne, the 36 remaining Solitaire competitors raced from the home of the Vendée Globe north through the Chaussée du Sein and Ouessant towards the Manacles buoy off of Lizard Point. From there the 490 mile course was shortened to 440 miles to avoid a ridge of high pressure that could have seen the fleet drifting into Cherbourg after four days of racing. Taking a risky breakaway inshore after the Manacles buoy, Red skipper Henry Bomby and Ed Hill (Macmillan Cancer Support) felt the brunt of a bad decision in their results, Ed finishing Leg 4 in 30th and Henry 32nd: 'I knew that if I was to gain any places in the overall rankings I would have to take some risks,' said Henry. 'So I went out on a limb and went east after Manacles along the UK shoreline, but it didn’t work out. I finished 32nd in the leg and 28th overall, which isn’t a complete disaster, but it was a lesson learned.'

For ‘tough Rookie’ Alan Roberts, the final Solitaire du Figaro leg was an uphill battle from the off. Reporting problems with his autopilot and AIS onboard navigational system soon, Alan was on the back foot from the start, and by the second day was 30 miles behind the leading boat. Sailing slowly and alone so far behind the fleet is deeply demoralizing, and would cause many to call it a day - but not Alan. Arriving in Cherbourg six hours behind Leg 4 winner Jérémie Beyou, still with a smile on his face, Alan is already thinking about his 2015 Solitaire du Figaro comeback: 'I am happy to have finished the race, but I am obviously a bit disappointed with the result (36th in Leg 4 and 34th overall). However, this is my first Figaro and so I am happy to have just made the finish line. It was a good leg. I enjoyed it with 20-30 knots and some nice spinnaker reaching. In fact, I loved the whole race - all of it on the water and on land. I want to be back for next year. The next one starts now, I just need to find some money and a boat. I am pretty motivated.'

The 2014 Solitaire du Figaro was won overall by now triple race winner Jérémie Beyou (Solo Maître Coq) with a total elapsed time of 12 days, 19 hours, 39 minutes and 22 seconds at sea. Corentin Horeau (Bretagne Crédit Mutuel Performance) was runner-up just 17 minutes behind Jérémie and Charlie Dalin (Normandy Elite Team) was third overall, just eight minutes behind Corentin.

The official prize giving taking place on Saturday, 5th July in Cherbourg and the eight British skippers now have three days to rest and relive the tales from their one month long solo marathon before returning to the UK.

Leg 4 results
Skipper/Boat name/Cumulative time

1. Jérémie Beyou/Maitre Coq/2d, 18h, 20’, 50'
2. Adrien Hardy/AGIR Recouvrement/2d, 18h, 21’, 44'
3. Corentin Douguet/Un Maillot Pour La Vie/2d, 18h, 22’, 22'
13. Sam Goodchild/Team Plymouth/2d, 18h, 38’, 39'
23. Nick Cherry/Redshift/2d, 19h, 11’, 18'
25. Sam Matson/Artemis 21/2d, 19h, 28’, 31'
26. Jack Bouttell/GAC Pindar/2d, 19h, 31’, 23'
28. Rich Mason/Artemis 77/2d, 19h, 36’, 9'
30. Ed Hill/Macmillan Cancer Support/2d, 19h, 38’, 51'
32. Henry Bomby/Red/2d, 19h, 48’, 20'
36. Alan Roberts/Artemis 23/3d, 1h, 2’, 30'

Leg 4 Rookies results
Skipper/Boat name/Cumulative time

1. Sébastien Simon/Bretagne - Crédit Mutuel Espoir/2d, 19h, 6’, 57'
2. Gwenolé Gahinet/Safran-Guy Cotton/2d, 19h, 8’, 37'
3. Sam Matson/Artemis 21/2d, 19h, 28’, 31'
4. Rich Mason/Artemis 77/2d, 19h, 36’, 9'
5. Clément Salzes/Darwin - Les marins de la lune/2d, 20h, 2’, 35'
6. Gwenael Gbick /Made in Midi/2d, 20h, 31’, 7'
7. Alan Roberts/Artemis 23/3d, 1h, 2’, 30'

2014 Solitaire du Figaro overall results
Skipper/Boat name/Cumulative time/Spread

1. Jérémie Beyou/Maitre Coq/12d, 19h, 39’, 22'
2. Corentin Horeau/Bretagne Crédit Mutuel Performance/12d, 19h, 57’, 18'/0h, 17’, 56'
3. Charlie Dalin/Normandy Elite Team/12d, 20h, 5’, 9'
15. Sam Matson/Artemis 21/13d, 1h, 0’, 57'/5h, 21’, 35'
22. Sam Goodchild/Team Plymouth/13d, 3h, 26’, 57'/7h, 47’, 35'
24. Rich Mason/Artemis 77/13d, 3h, 40’, 1'/8h, 0’, 39'
25. Jack Bouttell/GAC Pindar/13d, 3h, 49’, 48'/8h, 10’, 26'
26. Nick Cherry/Redshift/13d, 4h, 14’, 25'/8h, 35’, 3'
28. Henry Bomby/RED/13d, 4h, 40’, 40'/9h, 1’, 18'
34. Alan Roberts/Artemis 23/ 13d, 9h, 47’, 18'/14h, 7’, 54'
36. Ed Hill/Macmillan Cancer Support/13d, 14h, 29m, 10s/18h, 49’, 48'

2014 Solitaire du Figaro overall Rookie results
Skipper/Boat name/Cumulative time/Spread
1. Gwenolé Gahinet/Safran-Guy Cotten/13d, 0h, 8’, 38'
2. Sam Matson/Artemis 21/13d, 1h, 0’, 57'/0h, 52’, 19'
3. Rich Mason/Artemis77/13d, 3h, 40’, 1'/3h, 31’, 23'
4. Clément Salzes/Darwin - Les marins de la lune/13d, 4h, 43’, 34'/4h, 34’, 56'
5. Gwenael Gbick /Made in Midi/13d, 7h, 1’, 11'/6h, 52’, 33'
6. Sébastien Simon/Bretagne - Crédit Mutuel Espoir/13d, 9h, 47’, 16'/9h, 38’, 38'
7. Alan Roberts/Artemis 21/13d, 10h, 14’, 15'/10h, 5’ 37'

Sam Goodchild, Team Plymouth: This year’s race was quite a lot harder than last year’s. I’m quite disappointed with my result – last year I did a lot better than I thought I would do and this year I did a lot worse than I thought I would do. So for me it’s been harder in terms of my own expectations more than anything else.

I think the race itself in terms of the course and conditions also played to my weak points this year, whereas last year it played to my strengths. It’s been beneficial to get the experience, but it’s just been frustrating.

The Solitaire du Figaro is pretty unique in lots of ways, the boats are unique, the course is unique and there is nothing else like it. That is why it is so hard and that is why we always come back – to try and do better than we did last time and eventually try to win it.

This leg had three parts to it. The first part was upwind and I struggle with boat speed upwind. The middle bit was ok under spinnaker and I seemed to be going quite well at that point and made up some places and then the third part was upwind again, which was really difficult. I seem to struggle to get the boat going upwind, it’s something that I really need to work on in training. I don’t know whether it’s my set up, or my trimming – whatever it is I need to work on it. Fortunately I made up enough in the middle section to not lose out too much on in the final section of the leg, which saw me finish in 13th. It was a bit of damage limitation, but I’m pretty happy to finish with that and finish this year’s Figaro on a high.

Nick Cherry, Redshift: This year has been pretty different to the 2013 race. I’m not as prepared as I was and the race has been pretty different in terms of the weather. The first three legs were a bit softer with lighter conditions, whereas Leg 4 was a real Figaro leg – a lot more physical. I’ve really enjoyed this one and great to get a better result in the final leg at least.

Leg 4 has been my best leg, so I’ve got to be happy with that. It started off as quite a funny one with the breeze doing crazy things on the first upwind leg. Then we had a spinnaker run as we raced through the Chaussée du Sein and then the bit where I planned to sleep between Chaussée and Ouessant ended up being a windy spinnaker reach. Then I had a good time going around Ouessant in the dark against the tide in the rain, right up against Rich (Mason) and Charlie Dalin – that was a good little fight we had. Again I thought that leg across the channel might be quite relaxing, but no – we had some intense tight reaching across all the way and I couldn’t quite hold the kite. I think I lost some distance on some boats there. Once round the Manacles Buoy on the south coast we were dead upwind and that was pretty tough. I think I did about four sail changes. Mostly the leg went all right, I made a few mistakes like hitting the windward mark after a good start – but mostly it went alright. Overall it was a good satisfying leg and I’m pleased to have got it done.

In hindsight I’m quite glad they shortened the course as it means we’re in Cherbourg at a more sensible time. I’m not sure why they shortened it, all of the other legs have been just as long, but I guess having a light wind leg at the finish wouldn’t have been a very satisfying way to finish the race.

It was definitely worth me doing the race this year. Getting the boat ready and getting around the course is all preparation for next year. And I enjoyed the process of doing it. Just spending 15 days at sea is still good for me. While I didn’t put pressure on myself to get a result, I haven’t. But you still learn something and have a good time doing it too.

Sam Matson, Artemis 21: The Solitaire du Figaro is one massive mixed bag of emotions. A full month of sailing to the extreme, I certainly experienced a lot of things that I’ve never done before – it was a pretty incredible experience. I don’t know anywhere else you could go and feel and work so hard for a month.

The first 24 hours of this were my lowest for sure. I got stuck in a wind hole and watched everyone sail off. The highs were tacking up the shore past Gurnsey this morning, taking fast and taking back the places. Just generally sailing well – as well as there being a nice sunrise and flat water.

We had a lot more wind for this leg, up to 30 knots at some points. It was much more of a Figaro leg – but it was also quite disappointing because where I dropped back so much in the beginning, it was more like I was trying to play catch up that really enjoying the race and try and make a dent on the leaderboard. That was pretty frustrating. But this leg was really good, the sailing was good, the conditions were good and I really enjoyed it once I got back in with the fleet.

Coming in from a tough fourth and final Solitaire du Figaro leg to find out that I’m 15th overall and second Rookie is absolutely overwhelming. It’s an unbelievable achievement. My main goal was to get on the Rookie podium and I’ve done that and to finish 15th overall is absolutely incredible. When you look at Jack last year finishing top Rookie in 21st overall, and this year 15th is second – it really shows the level of the Rookie competition this year. It’s not been easy, but Gwenolé Gahinet is a great guy and he deserves the win.

I’m going to head back to the UK this weekend, and hopefully start putting together a campaign that is even bigger and better for 2015.

I went into this race expecting to be face with everything, and I’ve come out of it having been through everything. It was incredibly tough, so in terms of the race itself the challenges were expected. What I didn’t expect was my results – what a bonus.

The hardest part of the race is when you’re at the back of the fleet, trying to keep a leveled and positive mindset. At soon as you let it get to you, you end up in a dark and inefficient place and you spiral. You need to just keep going and think about the gains that could come up later. Each leg is a long race and I’ve managed to come back from further down the fleet in most of the legs - just because I’ve not let it get to me. It’s really mentally tough when you’ve been spat out that back, but being confident that there will be an opportunity to get back in the race is really beneficial to doing that.

The best part of the race for me was sailing into Plymouth. That was so cool. And to come home with such a great result was just crazy.

There’s plenty of moment when you’re racing where you start talking to yourself, or singing, or talking to the boat. When you snap out of that, that can be amusing. I also had a pigeon hitch a lift with me for a day or so. I talked to him quite a lot, but he kept getting in the way and I trod on him at one point and he wasn’t very happy about that. So I had to push it off.

I’ve really enjoyed eating pate and dried bread. I don’t know why because I don’t even really like pate. I think I must be really fed up of freeze-dried food. Anything not out of a packed and that you don’t have to add water to to eat is a bit of a treat.

The first thing I did when I hit the dock today was popped a bottle of Pol Roger Champagne, spray it over the team and then hug my Mum and Dad. Then I got off the boat and jumped about a bit to test that the ground wasn’t moving.

Artemis 21 now goes back to the UK and is still my responsibility until September. Once back in Cowes, we start quite a busy corporate season with Artemis, and I’m also helping with the 2014 Selection Trials for next year’s squad – see who is worthy to take her on in 2015.

Rich Mason, Artemis 77 It feels good to have finished my first Solitaire du Figaro. If I’m honest it feels great to be back on the dock, that was quite a hard leg. Leg 4 was definitely the most physical of the four legs with the wind and all the driving. It was really hard. We all wanted a windy leg before we left, but now I’m thinking be careful what you wish for!

I was gutted when I got in because I thought I’d lost my Rookie standing in the leg and overall, but I’ve just been told I’m third which is brilliant – and cheered me up a lot! It’s a bit disappointing to finish the race on a bit of a downer with that leg, but overall it’s been really good.

Every angle we had during Leg 4 I couldn’t get my pilot to work, so I was driving the whole time, which was exhausting. I had about an hour of sleep a day, so I’m a bit tired and wobbly now back on land. My appetite for the race next year…hmm, I haven’t got one at the moment! I think I need to go away for a couple of weeks and seriously think about it. It was really difficult.

The Solitaire du Figaro is just 2000 miles of really close, really awesome racing up against some really great sailors. I’ve really enjoyed the competitions and everything about the race was so intense from start to finish.

The best bit of the leg for me was a windy spinnaker leg in, we had about 15 to 16 knots of boat speed and water everywhere. It was pretty exciting. I even had seaweed below the deck. Now I’m going to have a beer somewhere and fall over.

Jack Bouttell, GAC Pindar: Leg 4 was the only leg of the race that we’ve actually had wind for almost the whole way through the course. We had some great spinnaker sailing, launching along in about 30 knots, which was really fun and we got some quick miles in. I just had no boat speed and just hemorrhaging miles. I worked myself up into an all right position a couple of times, and then just went backwards. It was frustrating. I didn’t know why, I tried everything but couldn’t work it out. I was struggling at times doing things I’ve never struggled with before. I learned a lot, and I have a lot to take away from the race this year. Hopefully I can work it out for next time.

The race has been really mentally tiring up until this point, and Leg 4 was quite physically tiring. I’m pretty fatigued, but it was nice to get going a bit.

If they hadn’t have shortened the course, it would have been a really long leg for sure. Some people on the radio were calling for it to be shortened at the mark before Manacles. We had good breeze all the way into the finish in Cherbourg, but if we’d have kept going along the English coast it would have dropped out and we’d still probably be drifting around somewhere near the Isle of Wight now. It would have been a tedious and frustrating last leg.

Coming into the beginning of this leg I was looking to get a top 20 position, but I think now I’m going to be mid 20’s. It would have been nice to get a better finish results, but I think with the season I’ve had I’ve basically had no time and it’s been a real scrape through programme. In other ways it’s been a really great season. I’ve learned huge amounts about the management and sponsorship side of a campaign that I’ve never really had to worry about before. It was a great time management and a reality check, I’ve learned a huge amount to take forward into next year. Combining the sailing I did in my first year, and the management side of the campaign I’ve done this year – I think my think my third year is looking pretty positive.

Getting off the boat after a race it’s quite difficult to say what you want to do next season, I think I just need a week away from the boat. But I’m quite positive about going forward next year and it would be great to continue the partnership with GAC Pindar. If we can find a deal that works for them and works for me next year, then that would be really great.

Ed Hill, Macmillan Cancer Support: I’m glad the leg is over. I sailed pretty well in this leg actually compared to the other three. I was pretty quick quite a lot of the time, but then I’d just make silly mistakes and not have the boat in the right positions. The low for me was just coming in 10 miles from the finish through Alderney Race and I tacked the boat and fell over. I had two sails that weren’t tied on to the boat and as I tacked they fell overboard. I went back and got one, but the other one was gone. So I’ve got a nice bill for that, which is a bit painful. I was pretty dark after that. I lost two places there as well because I had to go back. Was a stupid this to do.

There wasn’t much opportunity for sleep in this leg. I tried to make sure I got as much as I could, even diving below for naps when we were upwind before we hit Gurnsey as I knew it would be tricky through there. The leg overall was quite enjoyable. There was a park up on the first night which was a bit frustrating and I didn’t do very well out of it, but actually it was cool to have some decent breeze.

This year has been a terrible year for me compared to 2013. I was better prepared and training hard for the race, but I just underperformed massively. That’s just the way things go sometimes and I now need to reevaluate for next year.

My fundraising for Macmillan Cancer Support really has been the silver lining to this year’s race. It’s been so great, so many people have really got behind the campaign and donated money for the cause. We’ve raised a lot of money for Macmillan, which is really cool, it’s just a shame about my race result!

Henry Bomby, Red: It’s been a bit of a disappointing race for me this year, but I’ve got the same rewarding feeling coming into the finish today. I’m still happy having got through three legs, just doing the race is really hard and just finishing is an achievement. I’ve had so much support along the way, and I’m really thankful to everyone who has got me here to Cherbourg.

The Solitaire du Figaro is special because of the sense of community and support that comes with it. We’re out there by ourselves racing battling everything that the weather can throw at us, but all that time you know that friends, family, sponsors and supporters are at home rooting for you. It’s such an awesome experience and even though I promise myself at times that I will never do it again, I’ll probably be back next year. It’s like an addiction, I can’t really explain it, but I love it.

We’ve got three days in Cherbourg until the prize giving and I’m sure we’ll go out and have a few beers to celebrate the race. We’ve been working towards this for a year now, and it’s a great sense of achievement to come in and have finished it. It’s nice to come in and spend time with the other skippers too. I’m looking forward to going back to the south west, sleeping a lot and going to RockFish to have fish and chips – they don’t really have fish and chips in France. I’ve been away training in France since January, so it will be nice to go home and catch up and thank everyone who has supported me this year.

Leg 4 went ok for me in places. I had a shocker of a start, I infringed on Alexis (Loison) at the windward mark and then hit the top mark so I had to do two 360 turns during just the dog leg. I managed to get back into it and was around the 20’s when we got to the Manacles buoy which was good. I was quite happuy with that. I knew that if I was to gain any places in the overall rankings I would have to take some risks, so I went out on a limb and went east after Manacles along the UK shoreline, but it didn’t work out. I finished 28th in the end, which isn’t a complete disaster, but it was a lesson learned and also the nature of the racing. You can have things pan out really nicely and everything go your own way, and then you can have every decision you make not being a good one. I had one of those this year. Hopefully I’ll be back next year and be able to right that.

Alan Roberts, Artemis 23: 'I am happy to have finished. I am obviously a bit disappointed with the result, but it is my first Figaro and so I am happy to have just made the finish line. Right after the start my guillotine broke and so that meant I had to do the ballast a different way which took me a while to figure out and then just after Radio France buoy my electronics went down and some of the pilot NMEA stuff was short circuiting the system and so I had not AIS or GPS. I managed to the pilot fixed. It was a good leg, I enjoyed it with 20-30kts some nice tight reaching two sail and three sail. I loved the whole race, all of it on the water and on land. I did not quite get the result I wanted but then I did not know at all what to expect. I wanted to finish and to learn a lot and I have definitely done that, having never been offshore at all before this. So I’m pretty happy. I want to be back for next year. The next one starts now, I just need to find some money and a boat. I am pretty Artemis Offshore Academy