Solo Basse Normandie - Start

Solo Basse Normandie - The course © Dolink

Despite early sunshine in Granville, it was a grey start to the 188 mile Solo Basse Normandie (Friday 27th March) with fine drizzle reducing visibility and just seven knots of wind on the start line for 24 competitors to play with.

However, the gloom was soon pierced by the beaming white smile of Artemis Offshore Academy Rookie Rob Bunce (Artemis 37), as he started his competitive solo Figaro career in contention with Vendée Globe winner Alain Gautier (Generali) in the top three. Frenchman Yoann Richomme (Skipper Macif 2014) extended a great early lead after favouring the committee boat end of the line, chased by Alain, Rob, Alexis Loison (Groupe Fiva) and Claire Pruvot (Port de Caen Ouistreham) until the wind shifted to the left, leaving Yoann a little exposed and wide of the fleet.

Three of the Academy's most experienced skippers, Henry Bomby (Rockfish Red), Jack Bouttell (GAC Concise) and Nick Cherry (Redshift), set themselves up well mid-fleet with Nick now chasing a top five position. Nick set off in from Granville in good shape, passing his lucky mascot 'Pat' (a fluffy penguin from Living Coasts in Torquay) round the dock to be kissed – Jack Bouttell and Paul Meilhat did the honours.

Meanwhile Sam Matson (Chatham), Alan Roberts (Magma Structures) and Rookies Robin Elsey (Artemis 43) and Andrew Baker (Artemis 23) started with a fight from the back of the fleet, but as we know positions this early on don't count for too much – it's still all to play for. For all eight of the British skippers, the morning before a race is always a nerve wracking time, but for the Rookies pale faces and nervous smiles were the order of the day.

"I'm feeling a bit nervous this morning," Andrew admitted on the dock. "Last night it was a bit more difficult to get to sleep than usual, but I went to bed early and still managed to get around seven hours so I should be ok. We had a change of course yesterday due to the heavy forecast for the weekend, so the night before our first race we were almost starting our planning from scratch. Although the course change was a bit of a curve ball, it made me reassess where I should be pushing hardest round the course and where I should rest. The new course is a lot more physical, with more marks to round between a lot of straight line speed sailing – it's a drag race, great for my learning."

With 30 to 40 knots forecast as the fleet passed through the Alderney Race, the decision was made to change the Solo Basse Normandie course and avoid the notoriously tidal and rocky area in such high winds. Originally spanning 196 miles between Granville and Cherbourg, France, the Solo Basse Normandie course will now take skippers 188 miles from Granville to Roche Gautier, around Jersey and to a mark just north of St Malo before finishing in Granville on Saturday 28th March.

"The course has been changed and slightly shortened, but we'd be wrong to say that it's been made any easier," Rob explained. "We are looking at straight up speed runs against some of the best skippers competing on the Figaro circuit. We will also have more marks to turn, more manoeuvres to perform and more sails to change, so it looks set to be quite a physical race. There is also the weather. The wind is set to build from the start and only get worse into the night and the second day. It will be a while before we can get 10 minutes sleep to recharge. It maybe possible on the way back from Roche Gautier on the first night, or as we head south from Jersey."

Rockfish Red skipper Henry, now training for his fourth Solitaire du Figaro, explained that he thought the hardest part of this race would be having to execute an inline jib peel – a sail change that even the best solo sailors dread: "After the first night of sailing when everyone's a bit tired, we've got an inline jib change to do between genoa and solent as we round Jersey and it's always pretty hideous process! That peel will probably be the worst part of the course for everyone, it's the worst manoeuvre you have to do on a Figaro and we'll potentially be doing it in quite big seas, so it will pay to get it done early."

While changing headsails is usually done on a tack, an inline jib peel is the process of simultaneously changing headsails while on a straight line. Bouncing around on the bow, while often taking a quite substantial hosing, GAC Concise skipper Jack described the inline peel as "something that you have to be really motivated for."

Despite the weather and the nerves, spirits were high in the British camp pre-race, with the Academy Alumni looking forward to dusting off the winter cobwebs and the Rookies excited to test themselves in battle. Whatever their results, having the guts to push themselves off the dock and head into the unknown with 33ft of boat to keep under control is an achievement in itself for every sailor out on the course, but especially the Rookies doing it for the first time.

Nick handed out some words of advice for Rob, Robin and Andrew ahead of the start: "I think our Rookies should take as much from this race as they can. It's completely different racing from training and they're going to learn from that, but they can't get too excited about a good position early on, keep working hard the whole way and hopefully the results will be rewarding."

You can follow the skippers competing in the Solo Basse Normandie here: www.dolink.fr/carte/solo-duo-basse-normandie-2015