The Solitaire du Figaro Paprec returns to Royan from September 4 to 8, 2024. The first edition in 2022 was a success with nearly 43 visitors welcomed during the event.
Royan, stage town on the race route
Royan is now part of the history of the Figaro Solitaire. The mythical sailing race, created in 1970, has very often flirted with the coast of the Pearl of the Atlantic, without ever stopping there (2015, 2016, 2017, 2021 for the most recent editions). A shortcoming repaired in 2022: for the first time, Royan joins the La Solitaire route. In 2024, seaside resort of Royan is once again a stopover city for the Solitaire du Figaro.
A fleet of 30 to 35 racing monohulls will therefore make a three-day stopover in the marina, in the immediate vicinity of the Grande Conche beach. The 55th circuit of this prestigious nautical event links Rouen (Seine-Maritime) to La Turballe (Loire-Atlantique) via Gijón (Spain). The Charente station is first and foremost the arrival point of its second stage, Thursday September 5. Then, departure city for its third and final stage, Sunday 8 September.
In this interval, the spotlight is on theEsplanade Kérimel next to the Grande Conche. On site, a village specially set up for the event awaits the public from Wednesday September 4 at noon, the day before the skippers disembark after several days of travel and a double crossing of the Bay of Biscay. THE Race village includes a stage area (notably for the award ceremony), exhibition and entertainment venues. The result is a copious entertainment program : discovery of beach sports, introduction to nautical activities, marine decoration workshops...
La Solitaire du Figaro, more than 50 years of history
The media and sports dimension of Solitaire du Figaro will offer significant visibility to the most touristy of the seaside resorts on the Côte de Beauté. This prestige is due to the premier event status achieved by this XNUMX-year-old sporting event. His successive awards show an impressive list of champions associated with cult images, heroic exploits and legendary adventures on the high seas.
During its first ten years of existence, this solo competition was "Dawn Race". It is in tribute to the name of the newspaper in which its two founders, Jean-Louis Guillemard and Jean-Michel Barrault, worked at the time. 1980 marked the takeover of the event by another information title, Le Figaro, which gradually merged with its competitor.
At that time, the Solitaire had already proven itself and struck a chord with a few highlights:
- The victory of the very atypical Joan de Kat – nicknamed the “eccentric bearded man” during the inaugural edition of 1970, which left Brest (in two stages).
- A first foray into English waters in 1972.
- The force 8 storm which forced ten of the fourteen participants to retire on the Falmouth-Laredo stage in 1973.
- The feat of the English Clare Francis in 1975, the only woman to have won a stage in this event.
- The helicopter lift of Pierre Saint-Jalm from Cape Lizard (Cornwall) in 1978
- The miraculous rescue of Pierre Follenfant the following year, spotted on the high seas thanks to his flashlight carried by a wave.
Evolution of boat types
Until the early 1990s, most Solitaire participants were sailing aboard Half Tonners of about 9 meters. Despite the imposition of a race gauge aimed at equalizing everyone's chances, these sailboats were equipped with variable technical characteristics according to the budgets invested. To revive the sporting interest of the competition, its organizers ended up establishing the uniformity of the characteristics of its types of boats with the Figaro Bénéteau built by the eponymous shipyards from plans drawn by the naval architect Jean-Marie Finot.
Since then, this monohull regatta sailboat has been available in three versions:
- the Figaro Bénéteau I in 1991 (9 meters long),
- the II in 2003 (10 meters)
- and III in 2017
The latter is distinguished from the others by the presence of foils intended to produce a lift force. It is capable of considerably increasing the speed of the boat (over 20 knots, or more than 35 km/h).
Six sailors have won La Solitaire three times and put their names on the prestigious prize list of the race.
- "King John" Jean Le Cam, podium record holder (in 1994, 1996, 1999… eight podiums in total). Note that he started in the event at only 19 years old, in 1979
- Philippe Poupon (1982, 1985, 1995)
- Michel Desjoyeaux (1992, 1998, 2007)
- Jeremiah Beyou (2005, 2011, 2014)
- Yann Eliès (2012, 2013, 2015)
- and Armel Le Cléac'h.
32 skippers including 5 women took part in the 2023 edition and covered 1860 miles.
Themes
