Safran, Guy Cotten and Gwénolé Gahinet ready for a second season

by Safran Sailing Team on 20 Mar 2015 After successful partnership in their first year, Safran and Guy Cotten are committed to a second season with Gwénolé Gahinet on the Figaro Bénéteau circuit. The lead rookie on the 2014 La Solitaire du Figaro - Eric Bompard Cachemire, Gahinet is fully focused on his preparation for an intense year devoted to solo sailing and achieving his ambitions. In 2015, the skipper of Safran-Guy Cotten is aiming to be in the top 5 of La Solitaire.

The beginning of the Figaro Bénéteau season

With a few days to the start of the Solo Basse-Normandie on March 26-28 in Granville in Normandy, Gahinet is a happy skipper. The man from Lorient has trained tirelessly all winter at the Pôle Lorient Grand Large (the Lorient offshore training school) to prepare for his second season at the helm of the Figaro Safran-Guy Cotten. 'I’m excited to be going racing against my rivals,' Gahinet, the winner of the Transat AG2R La Mondiale and lead rookie in the 2014 La Solitaire du Figaro says. 'Last year I was in learning and now I have time to perfect the details that will make me more efficient on the water. It’s a part of the process that I really like. And I'm lucky to be well supported by Safran and Guy Cotten, who have been with me since 2011.'

Six races in the 2015 programme

La Solitaire du Figaro - Eric Bompard Cachemire*, the blue riband race of the Figaro Bénéteau circuit, will start on May 31 from Bordeaux and will stop in Sanxenxo (Spain), Concarneau, Torbay (England), and finally in Dieppe. 'For La Solitaire, I am aiming for the top 5,' Gahinet, the skipper of the Figaro Safran-Guy Cotten says. 'It may be ambitious but it’s achievable and it's a motivating goal.' While La Solitaire is the main objective, Gahinet will participate in all the races in the championnat de France Elite de Course au Large en Solitaire (France’s elite offshore solo sailing championship). 'There’s no secret, you have to sail to get better and nothing is better than sailing in races,' Gahinet says. The season will begin with the Solo Basse-Normandie in Granville from March 26-28 and will be followed by the Solo Maître CoQ* in Les Sables d'Olonne from April 20-26. Then Concarneau, where the Guy Cotten business was created, welcomes the Solo Concarneau-Trophy Guy Cotten from May 7-10 for the last test before La Solitaire du Figaro. After the summer break, Gahinet will sail double-handed, this time on the Tour de Bretagne à la Voile (tour of Brittany) between Saint-Malo and Piriac-sur-Mer from August 22-29. Finally, the champion of the France Elite de Course au Large en Solitaire will be crowned at the end of the Generali Solo, which will be contested in the Mediterranean in mid-September.

Perfect training preparation for La Solitaire

The 2015 season is mainly oriented towards solo sailing, in contrast to last year with La Transat AG2R La Mondiale (double-handed). From January, Gahinet has been training non-stop at the Pôle Lorient Grand Large with his coach, Tanguy Leglatin. 'We have worked particularly on the settings of the mast and the sails,' the skipper of Safran-Guy Cotten says. 'We went into much more detail because that is what makes the difference in a race like La Solitaire. Endurance, I have already!' Last week, the fleet of the Pôle Lorient Grand Large went on a training run to Torbay in England where the Solitaire will stop in June. After coming first in the stage between Lorient and Torbay, Gahinet is feeling confident. 'It's great to do a leg of La Solitaire early,' he says. 'We also did several coastal courses in Torbay where the start of the stage will be played out and then we did a round trip to Land's End at the tip of Cornwall. This allowed me to work on the currents, the effects of reliefs, routings and to spend several nights at sea. We accumulated a lot of miles in race configuration, which is rare at this stage of the season. I’m very happy with the work dynamic at the Pôle Lorient Grand Large.' On Tuesday, the Figaro headed to Granville via the Isle of Wight for a Channel crossing.

Join us on March 26 in Granville for the Solo Basse-Normandie, the first race of a 2015 season which promises to be exciting.

*The Solo Maître CoQ, La Solitaire du Figaro Eric Bompard Cachemire and the Generali Solo are the three events which count towards to the championnat de France Elite de Course au Large en Solitaire.