Solitaire du Figaro - Alexis Loison first across Plymouth finish line

by Marie Le Berrigaud-Perochon on 12 Jun 2014 Sailor Alexis Loison (Groupe Fiva) won his first ever leg of La Solitaire du Figaro - Eric Bompard Cashemire this afternoon as he crossed the line in Plymouth at 14:53:50. This is the Frenchman's second win in the city - he was victorious in last year's Fastnet race, sailing double-handed with his Dad. Loison's decision to stay East of the fleet as they raced from Roscoff to Plymouth paid off. When the wind died he had a better angle for the approach to Plymouth Sound.

Alexis Loison: 'This is fairly new for me to win a leg! This explains why I have been on this circuit for nine years, this is what I came for. Before departure, everyone was teasing me, telling me 'you never loose in Plymouth!' I'm super happy with this leg, I have worked well all along. I saw the shift coming in the East. It was the surprise this morning to see that I managed to slip below them. I played with the current, it was worth it for arriving in Plymouth. Indeed, we've had numerous different weather on the leg, we had everything from calm conditions, to wind, and rough seas. It really was not easy. There has been a lot of transitions and leaders changes. Sometimes there were people coming out of nowhere, finding themselves leading, and vice versa. I am pleased with myself but the last part of the race was tough. One year ago, I was winning the Rolex Fastnet Race here in Plymouth, they should have more races arrivals here!'

Fabien Delahaye (Skipper Macif 2012) won the battle of the solo skippers who had opted for the direct route under tight spinnaker. He crossed the line seven minutes after Loison and two minutes ahead of Jeremie Beyou (Maitre Coq). Beyou is chasing a third Solitaire win this year.

Jérémie Beyou: 'It was a nice tactical option from Alexis. He is a specialist of this kind ! I'm glad the boat is here and the mast is standing. Once again, when I saw Yann, it is as if the mast had fallen on my head. The race did not deserve that Yann broke his mast. In the end, even if we had a lead with Charlie, others have tried some things, it was nice. But I would not have done it, and that's what I forbid myself to do as it is only the first leg out of four and you have to stay still.'

23 year old Sam Matson (Artemis 21) arrived in Plymouth at 15:52:39 in 12th place. An impressive result for the Plymouth University graduate in his first ever Solitaire leg. Matson finished as top British sailor and top of the ‘bizuth' or rookie class for first time entrants.

'It's an unbelievable feeling to be arriving in Plymouth, just doing this whole leg, the South of the UK, it's where I learnt to sail, seeing all these familiar places. Just unbelievable sailing a coast-line that you know, it gave me confidence knowing where I was going and I felt really happy the whole time and sailing through into the Sound is always special, it's great to do it today. This about twice the length of any solo sailing I've done in the past and you certainly feel it. It's double the amount over everything really - doubly fatigued, tired, hungry and everything you can imagine but it's good.'

This first leg saw the 38 solo sailors make three channel crossings over the 484 mile leg. Keeping the boat and themselves going was difficult at times.

David Kenefick: 'I finished 28th, I think and I feel slightly disappointed considering I was doing a lot better earlier on in the leg, I slept quite a bit today but yesterday I was in a different place at times, I was just falling asleep standing up and I would wake up because I'd fallen over. I didn't think that there were people on the boat with me but I was talking to myself on the boat and all sorts. With just a little more experience you know how much harder you can push yourself. I started this race fresher than last year so I had a bit more energy this year but in total I had three hours sleep across the three days, I'm pretty tired.'

This is the first time the race has ever been to Plymouth's Sutton Harbour and the first time in 11 years that it's been to the UK. The sailors were greeted with blue skies and a warm welcome. Time now for them to catch-up on some sleep before the start of Leg 2 on Saturday evening.

Fabien Delahaye (Skipper Macif 2012): 'I came back on the two leaders Charlie (Dalin) and Jeremie (Beyou). I was also with Erwan Tabarly . I managed to pass them three by sailing properly. I had a good speed, the idea was to get to the red buoy without knowing who was going to cross in front. The idea was to get there nicely. Alexis finishes ahead of me, but given my race, I'm glad I was always well positioned, never very far from the leaders, and I knew how to do well on the most important part of the leg. Of the 15, there is not much time difference. I only dig my advance as the weather conditions were favorable to me. One thing is for sure, the weather conditions did not favor those behind.'

Henry Bomby (Red): 'There were a lot of down and ups. After the first night I was stuck in a wind hole and was last so that was a pretty dark time when I realised I was just going to have to sit there for a while before I got going again and everyone was just sailing off. But I was pretty motivated in the morning to get back in, I knew what the weather was going to be like and knew there would be opportunities. I managed to get back in the pack and sailed quite well the rest of that day to get right up the front, it's probably the best I've sailed a Figaro and then lost loads of places on the two channel crossings - one because I was just not fast enough and I don't really know what happened last night.'

Sam Goodchild (Team Plymouth): 'It was quite mentally difficult. I had a good first 24 hours and I was quite happy with how it was going and then I made one mistake which ended up being extremely expensive, I didn't think it was that risky at the time which is annoying but that's the way it goes. I went offshore which was paying to begin with and looked really good and then within an hour I went from alongside but slightly back latrally from the leaders to alongside nobody and slightly back latrally from everybody.'

Order of arrival in Plymouth
1) Alexis Loison (Groupe Fiva) Arrived at 14:53:50
2) Fabien Delahaye (Skipper Macif 2012) 15:01:17
3) Jeremie Beyou (Maitre Coq) 15:03:32
4) Charlie Dalin (Normandy Elite Team) 15:06:06
5) Erwan Tabarly (Armor Lux) 15:08:24
6) Gildas Morwan (Cercle Vert) 15:09:34
7) Paul Meilhat (SMA) 15:10:26
8) Thierry Chabagny (Gedimat) 15:15:18

Order of arrival of British / Irish Sailors
12) Sam Matson (Artemis 21) 15:52:39
22) Henry Bomby (Red) 16:43:34
25) Jack Bouttell (GAC Pindar) 17:16:00
26) Alan Roberts (Artemis 23) 17:24:10
27) Rich Mason (Artemis 77) 17:31:33
28) David Kenefick (Full Irish) 17:31:41
31) Sam Goodchild (Team Plymouth) 17:35:28
32) Nick Cherry (Redshift) 17:41:57
37) Ed Hill (Macmillan Cancer Support) 16 miles to Event website