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Sailing picture : Arrivée à Cherbourg 41751

19.08.2010
Arrivée à Cherbourg



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19.08.2010 Back to news

Job done!

The race is done and dusted. At the age of 49 and with 8 participations in the Solitaire du Figaro to his name, the skipper of Groupe Bel demonstrated that he still has what it takes to fight it out with younger sailors. Kito claimed 8th place on this final leg between Ireland and the Cotentin Peninsula, finishing at 2326, and 2h10'26'' off the masterly victor Armel Le Cléac'h. The skipper of Brit Air won a third leg when he finished in Cherbourg and won the 2010 Solitaire in outstanding style. His pretender is called François Gabart: a rising star who took second place last November in the Transat Jacques Vabre racing with Kito on the Open 60 Groupe Bel. And our skipper, who had timidly admitted that he was hoping for a top 10 position for his return to the Solitaire, delivered on his words. Unsure at the start in Le Havre whether he could pull it off, he has finished in 9th place, satisfied and reassured. It's a good place to be two months before the start of the Route du Rhum.

He performed well. He took strategic decisions and made calculated and efficient moves. After a warm-up leg between Le Havre and Gijon (21st), he put his all in on the leg to Brest (7th), limited damage on the leg to Kinsale (17th) and put in a fine performance on the leg to Cherbourg (8th). With two months to go to the Route du Rhum which Kito will race on his “big” Groupe Bel, he had come to race in the Solitaire to see whether he still had what it takes for this event, which he won in 2002, in Cherbourg in fact. The skipper wanted to test himself against a high level of competition, and that was just what he found. He had also come back to enjoy racing on the Figaro boat of which he is most fond. Several good reasons, then, and several good answers over the past 24 days - there is much to be satisfied with!

“The Solitaire is certainly not boring! When you manage to not break the boat on the start line, not blow up a spinnaker when it is too windy, not damage the keel on the rocks, and manage to make more or less the right decisions, you are pretty happy. Overall, I am pleased, and I have reached my goal, which was to finish in the top ten overall, which was quite ambitious given the level of talent on the water. I’m pleased that I pulled it off. I wanted to see whether I could perform in the Figaro, and I can. I wasn’t particularly serene at the start, and there are a few things which I am not satisfied with. I am not fast enough, and there are other competitors who are faster. You really have to search for the pleasure because it is tough. You have to fight hard and believe in it even if you are often disappointed, but yes, I did enjoy it. There are more good sailors today than when I left the circuit (in 2006). Everyone races well, from first to last place, and it is great to see.

The Route du Rhum starts in two month time. In a week’s time, I return to the Open 60 Groupe Bel. I will be training and preparing with the aim of a good result in Pointe à Pitre on the beautiful red boat. Every race serves as preparation for the next one, no matter what boat it is on, and I’m pleased to have yet again learnt a lot. There are things we do on the Figaro which we don’t do on big boats: certain ways of trimming for example. On a 60 footer, the boat goes fast all the time, with ease, and sometimes we just let it do so. But to get that little bit extra, you have to find ways, and I am looking forward to just that over the coming months.

François (Gabart) is reaching maturity. Sailing on big boats has given him confidence. He has also worked very hard these past few years to reach this level in the Figaro. Along with Armel (Le Cléac’h), they really proved to be a cut above the rest, and they royally deserve their success. Corentin (Douguet) was excellent. He sails fast and goes the right way. It’s a good top three line-up….a little young, perhaps!”

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