2018 La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro - Two Irish sailors line up among the eight La Solitaire rookies
by La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro 25 Aug 2018 00:46 PDT
25 August 2018
Les Irlandais (Joan Mulloy et Thomas Dolan) lors du Prologue URGO de la Solitaire Urgo Le Figaro 2018 © Alexis Courcoux
This year there are eight rookies, including two newcomers from Ireland, for whom this is their first attempt at La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro, each competing for the coveted prize as top 'bizuth' or rookie.
Aged between 22 and 40 they each come from very different backgrounds, but they all share the same dream, a passion for sailboat racing and for being at sea. Now with just a couple of days before the start of their first La Solitaire they are dealing with their hopes and expectations but nerves and apprehension are never far away.
"At home, we say that pressure is for tyres," states Irish skipper Tom Dolan boldly as he prepares to take on his first Solitaire URGO Le Figaro.
The 31-year-old Irishman has done the hard miles between the last solo Mini-Transat in which he finished in 6th place and the Transat AG2R La Mondiale two handed in May in which he has took 11th place with Tanguy Bouroullec.
The skipper of Smurfit Kappa does not have too many butterflies or worries as he contemplates the start, rather this is the realisation of a childhood dream:
"I grew up in the countryside, not far from the border with Northern Ireland, the only place to sail was a lake, where I started when my father bought a little wooden dinghy. I started to watch videos on the Internet and I recall the Figaro standing out. I wondered how the guys were able to sail their boat alone, it made me dream. Being here is the culmination of a childhood dream. It's all just a bit crazy. "
But there are others who, like Dolan, want this race to be their springboard to the big time, to make an impression by securing a 'bizuth' podium.
"I really want to make a podium, or even win in bizuth, but it will not be easy, says Dolan, "There are lots of us, like Lois, who is really a threat, Thomas Cardrin and Calliste Antoine "
Lois, being Lois Berrehar, who also did the Transat AG2R La Mondiale and finished 12th with Erwan Le Draoulec, and is now on the helm of Bretagne CMB Espoir after the withdrawal of Aymeric Belloir. Dolan sees his AG2R experience as a big positive, "I saw how an event like La Solitaire unfolds when he raced the Transat AG2R, " It is an honour to be facing off with the elite of offshore racing, "emphasises the 24-year-old skipper, who says he has several role models:
"Charlie Dalin with his four podiums in a row, Erwan Tabarly and Thierry Chabagny who have so much experience of racing solo. Racing on equal terms with these guys is great. "
As for Joan Mulloy, 31, who is the first Irish woman to take on La Solitaire and who is aiming for the 2020 Vendée Globe, she is the daughter of a shellfish farmer from the remote west of Ireland and she is supported by Taste the Atlantic - A Seafood Journey. Mulloy says this race as a "a big challenge. She admires Dame Ellen MacArthur:
"Ellen is the role model for me I read one of her books when I was young, she's a relatively small woman in stature and so I told myself if she can do then I can possibly do it! My goal is to find my place in the fleet, especially among the bizuths. I am not really worried because I feel totally at home on the water. But I am more afraid of making big mistakes and being last."
It's a Result to be at the Start!
For the amateur rookies like career architect Romain Baggio (Maison Meneau-Les Marins de la Lune), 39 years-old the pre-start period is inevitably quite stressful.
"I have done a lot of Tours de France and match-races. But I wanted to race solo and offshore. And so I wanted to get in and compete before the move to the Figaro 3, as long as the budgets are manageable. It's very impressive to be here. There is a huge amount of information to retain. I am a little nervous before the start, trying not to break things. I have a hard time measuring how I'll do," says Baggio who prepared with the Team Vendée Formation, just like Thomas Cardrin, 30 years, who wears the colours of the team based in Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie.
La Solitaire is also a childhood dream of Sébastien Petithuguenin, a rookie who has a slightly different profile to the usual aspiring young racer.
He is the Paprec Group's general manager, helping steer a company which is well known in sailing and which was originally taken over by his father in 1994. Jean Luc Petithuguenin is a renowned offshore racing enthusiast.
Son Sébastien explains how his own dream of La Solitaire came about: "I was 40 years old this year and so my goal was for my 40th is to realise a childhood dream. In this case it is to race La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro, the legendary event which has uncovered all the French legends, Peyron, Bourgnon, Desjoyeaux, Cammas. For me La Solitaire is a reference in terms of real sporting competition, I wanted to experience the sporting level from inside alongside the skippers who will go on to do the Vendée Globe. It fascinates me", says the soloist whose one priority goal is "to finish."
More information at www.lasolitaire-urgo.com/en