Fast finish for Roberts of Leg 1 of La Solitaire du Figaro
by James Loosemore, Alan Roberts Racing 3 Sep 2020 04:22 PDT
Alan Roberts - 51st Solitaire du Figaro Leg 1 © Thomas Deregnieaux / Alan Roberts Racing
Alan Roberts finishes a challenging Leg 1 of the 51st Solitaire du Figaro within an hour of the leader, Xavier Macaire on Thursday, 3rd September.
Europe's toughest race lived up to its name with a grueling opening leg. Following a disappointing first night at sea Roberts used his skills and expertise to fight back and finish just 56 minutes and 22 seconds behind first place.
Roberts crossed the finish line to arrive back in the beautiful bay of Saint-Brieuc, France with a finish time of three days 18 hours and 14 minutes. The overall race is won on aggregate time so every second is crucial. Roberts was feeling positive to have minimised the time loss from the leader as he arrived on the dock, he said "I'm feeling good, it's great to be back racing and after a disappointing first night it is great to end the leg less than an hour behind the leader".
The first 24 hours of the race saw a high pressure weather front engulf the fleet bringing them to a complete stop, Roberts found himself stuck in a hole with no wind. Emerging from the high pressure and expecting everyone to be within 5 miles, Roberts was pained to learn he was in fact 25 miles behind the leaders via the VHF rankings. With the realisation that there were few opportunities to get back into the race Roberts dug deep and rallied.
He spent the next two days chasing down the leaders. After rounding the Fastnet Rock it was all about boat speed and endurance with Roberts taking full advantage of the downwind / reach leg back towards Saint Brieuc. Roberts pulled back the miles on the leaders and with the wind behind closed the gap to less than 4 miles on first place. As a result Roberts sits in a good position going into Leg 2.
Leg 2 of La Solitaire du Figaro is a 497 mile sail from Saint-Brieuc to Dunkirk via the English coast starting on Sunday, 6th September 11am local time and will take a further four days to complete. Final placings are calculated on aggregate time and there are going to be plenty more ups and downs and twists and turns to report. It is still very much an open race with lots of opportunities for Roberts to come through to the front of the fleet.
Xavier Macaire (Groupe SNEF) wins Leg 1, followed by Loïs Berrehar (Bretagne CMB Performance) and in third position was Alexis Loison (Région Normandie). Alan Roberts, GBR (Seacat Services) finished in 28th position just 56mins 22secs behind the leader.
For more updates follow Alan Roberts on his journey in La Solitaire, visit alanrobertsracing.com.