Sam Matson 2nd rookie in the Solo Concarneau Trophée Guy Cotten

Solo Concarneau Rookie runner up Sam Matson chats with Alain Gautier after the finish © Artemis Offshore Academy

British solo skipper Sam Matson (Artemis 21) showed the strength of his offshore metal in Concarneau yesterday (Saturday, 3rd May), crossing the Solo Concarneau Trophée Guy Cotten finish line at 15:29 BST 11th overall and 2nd Rookie – the second time an Artemis Offshore Academy sailor has stood on the Rookie podium this season, and the first Brit to finish. After an unfortunate end to his first race of the season in March, Sam was out to prove himself in the Solo Concarneau in the hope of earning his place on the Solitaire du Figaro start line this June.

Setting off on Thursday, 1st May, Sam was the 22nd boat of 32 boats at the first mark, whilst fellow British skipper Henry Bomby (Red) led the fleet all the way to the Glénans. Pushing his way through the fleet from the early 20's to top 10 through the first night, by morning Sam had worked his way into fifth position. Sailing alongside the eventual winner of the race Yann Eliés, runner-up Adrien Hardy and third place Jérémie Beyou, Sam competing in only his second solo offshore race, kept his speed (and his nerve) against the experienced front runners for the first 24 hours, before dropping a few places to ninth as the fleet rounded Ile d'Yeu – the most southerly mark on the course. With just over 30 miles left to race, fellow Rookie Sébastien Simon began piling on the pressure, seeing Sam and the talented young Frenchmen go head to head to the finish line with not even a mile between them. In the end, Sébastien's speed prevailed and Sam finished the 340-mile Solo Concarneau as the Rookie runner up.

"I'm feeling 100% better than I did at the end of the Solo Maître Coq, it's just so nice to have raced and finished with the rest of the fleet and near the front – it's great," beamed Sam on the dock afterwards. "At no point in the race did I think 'I've got this', in fact there wasn't much time to think or rest at all. I was just pushing the whole time because you're never safe in your position until you cross the finish line. The conditions out on the course were much as we expected, with a lot hard reaching and quite a bit of breeze for the duration. I think having done more heavy weather sailing definitely paid off in this race. First Brit home and second Rookie, I'm chuffed with that!"

For the rest of the British sailors, there was a mixed bag of results and emotions at the finish line. Sam Goodchild (Team Plymouth) was next over the line, coming back from the back of the pack on the first night to finish the race 16th overall. Although disappointed with his result, Sam reported that the breezy conditions out on the course (up to 30 knots) made the Solo Concarneau an exciting race with plenty of opportunities to gain miles which kept him motivated: "We had everything from six hours drifting around and looking at Concarneau at the finish, to 25-30 knots beating up wind. I started off on the back foot and having a lot to gain, but I just keep pushing on. I was disappointed to be at the back but that's why it was a good race, because there were always those opportunities to bring it back."

Artemis Offshore Academy graduate Ed Hill (Macmillan Cancer Support) and Rookie Rich Mason (Artemis 77) were both back on the dock just an hour later, both happy with the race, but frustrated by their result. Finishing 19th, Ed was disappointed with his final ranking after having been in the top ten for most of the first night, whilst Rich had broken his propeller seal. A preventer fitted by the Figaro class to ensure the engine is not switched on during a race, skippers must finish with the seal in tact or face a time penalty – in Rich's case, four five minute penalties (20 minutes total) added to his finishing time. This saw Rich drop from 20th overall and third Rookie to 24th on the leaderboard, just behind Alan Roberts (Artemis 23) in 23rd place: "Half way through the second day my main sheet just caught the handle and flicked the engine into gear," Rich explained. "It's quite a terrible feeling to start your engine after 340 miles and hear it munch the preventer off it. I'm quite disappointed; it's not a great end. Despite that, the race had some good bits, we had good breeze, did lots of hoists, peels and reaching – it was much more of an offshore race." Rich was not the only skipper to pick up a time penalty, with Alain Gautier (Generali) and Yves Ravot (France Parrainages) both receiving penalties for failing weight checks ahead of the start.

Joking on the pontoon about being haunted by this race, for Jack Bouttell (Artemis 20) the Solo Concarneau is fast becoming an event he'd rather forget. His least enjoyable race of 2013, in 2014 Jack put in his worst performance of his solo career to date finishing 27th, just behind Henry Bomby in 26th. With no excuses on the dock other than he perhaps wasn't in the right frame of mind and made the wrong calls, Jack was happy that his performance had slumped now, and not during the Solitaire du Figaro: "It wasn't the best, I think this race just isn't for me! I was just really slow at the start with a sail I've never used before and this is the first time I've done this kind of sailing since the races last year. I've had three days of training this year and it showed I'm rusty. I just didn't sail very well and didn't really do anything right. I'm a bit disappointed – I think I just wasn't in the right place. Hopefully I can iron out these mistakes before the Solitaire."

The Solo Concarneau course, running north from Concarneau to Ouessant through the Raz de Sein, before heading back south past Belle Île to Île d'Yeu, was a great dry run for the Solitaire du Figaro starting in just four weeks time. With just one final dress rehearsal, the Solo Basse Normandie (16-18th May) left to race ahead of the main event, the count down has begun. The 2014-mile Solitaire du Figaro starts from Deauville on the 8th June.

Follow the Artemis Offshore Academy in the build up to the race via the website, Facebook and Twitter.

They said:

Sam Matson, Artemis 21:

"I'm feeling 100% better than I did at the end of my last race, it's just so nice to have raced and finished with the rest of the fleet and in the front – it's great. At no point in the race did I think 'I've got this', in fact there wasn't much time for rest at all. I was pushing the whole time because you're never safe in your position until you cross the finish line.

I think I did most of my climbing on the first night, but I didn't do anything out of the ordinary, just sailed as I know best. It was fairly windy out there and I tried to sail as fast as I could without getting into any dirty air or tangling with the rest of the fleet – I sailed my own race.

The conditions out on the course were much as we expected, except we still had 22 knots hard-reaching round Ile d'Yeu this morning when it was forecast to drop off. Last night was a hard night, really fast and hard to settle the boat – I had very little rest.

Having done a lot of heavy weather sailing already definitely paid off in this race. It wasn't too bad out there, but to be able to keep pushing as I did, I don't think I would've been able to do that if I was new to offshore – experience definitely helped.

First Brit home and second Rookie, I'm chuffed with that."

Sam Goodchild, Team Plymouth:

"It was a great race, my result leaves room for improvement – but it was a great race. We had everything from six hours at the finish drifting around and looking at Concarneau, to 25, 30 knots beating up wind. I started off on the back foot and having a lot to gain, but I just keep pushing on. Unlike the last race where I was right out the back, this time there were lots of boats around me so there was always a new marker, a new guy to catch. I was disappointed to be at the back, but that's why it was a good race, because there were always those opportunities to bring it back. It went well."

Ed Hill, Macmillan Cancer Support:

"I'm happy, but I'd still like to do one Figaro race before I die where I finish with a decent result that justifies my sailing. I'm a bit bored of saying I deserve this, or I sailed really well here – I just can't seem to put together a race and that is really frustrating. It's just so frustrating. In different areas of the race, I'm fine, I sail well. Going into the first night I was in such a good position and the whole race was there for me to do really well in, and then I did it averagely. Nineteenth is not an awful result, but it's a shame after being up there in the top 10 on the first night. I made mistakes though, I put the wrong sail up coming down wind and then later on in the race I blew up my big spinnaker, which didn't really help. I just would have loved to have finished this race and thought yes, you did well there. Can't beat myself up about it though, at least it's not the Solitaire."

Rich Mason, Artemis 77:

"It was a good race, but I'm not happy with my race because I broke my propeller shield which means I'm not 20th and not 3rd Rookie anymore. Half way through the second day my main sheet just caught the handle and flicked the engine into gear. It's quite a terrible feeling to start your engine after 340 miles and hear it munch the preventer off it. I'm quite disappointed; it's not a great end. Despite that, the race had some good bits, we had good breeze, did lots of hoists, peels, reaching – it was much more of an offshore race. I thought I was leading off the start and then I went the wrong bloody way! I felt I sailed well, but just did a load of really stupid things to make up for that."

Alan Roberts, Artemis 23:

"I had a really good beat up to the windward mark and then just got pushed outside of it which saw me rounding in near dead last just ahead of Sam Goodchild. From there I felt I sailed well up round the next headland, still with Sam we were practically brushing the rocks as we pushed up through the fleet on the first night. But then I had a port on starboard with someone on the next stretch and I had to crash tack which cost me my position – that was annoying. From then on I was sailing with Rich, we just seemed to find each other all the time. We'd take off and split miles apart and then tack back in and cross each other with inches to spare. Then I just had a bad final 24 hours getting stuck out to leeward with no wind by Birvideaux and then blowing my big spinnaker on the last leg. It was great fun, just a disappointing last day."

Jack Bouttell, Artemis 20:

"It wasn't the best, this race just isn't for me – I think I'm haunted by it. No, I was just really slow at the start with a Solent I've never used before and this is the first time I've done this kind of sailing since the races last year. I've had three days of training this year and it showed. I just didn't sail very well and didn't really do anything right. I'm a bit disappointed; I think I just wasn't in the right place. Hopefully I can iron out the mistakes before the Solitaire."

Henry Bomby, Red:

"My first thought after the windward mark was who's going to overtake me first, Jérémie or Yann? It turned out to be Jérémie Beyou. I always do that port on approach start when there's a small line and a big fleet. Everyone was wracked up at the committee boat end of the line and I just managed to get beneath and sail through the them in a clean lane. This enabled me to do what I wanted, and the first time I tacked to port that was it. After that good start I ended up in more tide than I wanted to be in and instead of conceding five places, I conceded about 15. I gained a few places around the top mark of the course, but then managed to catch my spinnaker on the mark and rip it. Ninety miles going less than 10 knots with a small spinnaker is pretty painful. I'm happy with my race though, my pace was ok and I was using the same sails as everyone else so it was a good run through."

Solo Concarneau Results:
Skipper/Boat name/arrival time (CET) /Rookie*

1. Yann Elies/ Groupe Queguiner Leucemie Espoir/14:28:31
2. Adrien Hardy/AGIR Recouvrement/14:29:00
3. Jérémie Beyou/Maître Coq/14:29:38
11. Sam Matson/Artemis 21/16:29:10
16. Sam Goodchid/Team Plymouth/17:16:28
19. Ed Hill/Macmillan Cancer Support/17:29:32
23. Alan Roberts/Artemis 23*/17:47:48
24. Rich Mason/Artemis 77*/17:30:06+ x4 5 minute time penalties – 17:50:06
26. Henry Bomby/RED/ 18:00:59
27. Jackson Bouttell/Artemis 20/ 18:01:56

The Solo Concarneau Rookie leaderboard:
Skipper/Boat name/arrival time (CET) /Rookie*

1. Sébastien Simon/Bretagne Crédit Mutuel Espoir/16:16:08
2. Sam Matson/Artemis 21/16:29:10
3. Clément Salzes/Darwin Les Marins de la Lune/17:34:21
4. Alan Roberts/Artemis 23/17:47:48
5. Rich Mason/Artemis 77/17:30:06+ x4 5 minute time penalties – 17:50:06
6. Yves Ravot/France Parrainages/18:31:38
7. Aymeric Arthaud/Reel/ 18:44:31
8. Benjamin Dutreux/ Team Vendée/ 18:46:46
9. Emil Tomascevie/Ultra Figaro/ 21:35:00
DNF. Alexandre Jongh/ Vendee 1