Academy Brits go head to head with the best in the Solo Maître Coq

The eight British Artemis Offshore Academy sailors at the start of the Solo Maître Coq © Artemis Offshore Academy

The Solo Maître Coq starts today (Monday 20th April) in Les Sables d'Olonne for the Artemis Offshore Academy sailors. Now in its fifth year, the race is back and is even bigger and better, offering a week of fierce Figaro competition in the iconic home of the Vendée Globe. Taking place between 20th and 26th April, the event starts with a series of short coastal races (20th/21st April), before culminating in a more traditional 350-mile offshore race around Ile de Ré, Ile d'Yeu and Belle Île starting on Thursday 23rd April. Scored on a co-efficient point system weighted towards the offshore race, the winner of the Solo Maître Coq will be the skipper with the least points accumulated over the week, all races to count. An impressive line up of 42 skippers have signed up to take part in this unique Figaro racing regatta, including 12 Rookies, four 2016 Vendée Globe competitors, one Vendée Globe winner (1992/93), two past winners of the Solo Maître Coq, two multiple Solitaire du Figaro winners, three female skippers, eight Academy Brits, the Classe Figaro Bénéteau's first Turkish skipper and a boat load of Figaro talent to boot. Boasting a competitive fleet worthy of the Solitaire du Figaro start line, the Academy Brits are all set to go head to head in a game of Figaro 'chicken' with the best in the Solo Maître Coq.

"It's going to be a fun set of races, but it's going to be tough because there are so many good sailors taking part," Robin Elsey, winner of the Solo Basse Normandie Rookie division, explained. "It's also going to be quite physically testing, because we have two days of inshore racing before we set off on a full length offshore race. I think we'll be a bit more tired ahead of the race than we would usually – good training for the Solitaire. I'm really looking forward to it though. Solo racing is challenging enough and a few days of close contact racing before we set off will make things exciting."

Robin and his fellow British Rookies Rob Bunce and Andrew Baker had their first taste of competitive solo Figaro racing back in March. Thrown in at the deep end with a last minute change in the 200-mile course through a chicane of rocks, big waves and high winds, the Solo Basse Normandie was something of a baptism of fire for the British Figaro newbies. Now armed with a barrage of new lessons learned only through experience out in the field, the British 'Bizuth' trio is primed and ready for the new challenges and challengers bought about by the Solo Maître Coq – their second race this season. Part of a 12-boat Rookie division, Rob, Andrew and Robin are about to have the strength of their metal truly measured amongst the full fleet of this year's new comers: "It's a nicer feeling going into our second race. I've taken onboard the good bits and the bad bits from the first race and I'm now looking to improve my performance," Rob reported. "The fleet is double the size with double the amount of Rookies, everyone who will do the Solitaire du Figaro will be on the start line so it'll be a great test for us. It's also a really epic venue for the race, we sailed in down the famous Vendée Globe canal and it was a little bit intimidating, I just kept thinking about all the photos I've seen of the Vendée skippers setting out around the world. It's amazing."

For the Academy Alumni, the high standard of the fleet and the intensity of the week long competition means the Solo Maitre Coq is about as close as they're going to get to a dry run of the Solitaire. Lining up against the very best in offshore racing, the Solo Maitre Coq comes as a fantastic opportunity for the more experienced British skippers to measure themselves against the cream of the Figaro crop as Nick Cherry, who finished just inside the top 10 in the Solo Basse Normandie, explained: "I'm super excited for the Solo Maître Coq because its status as a championship of France event means 42 boats have turned up to compete. I also really enjoy the shorter races so I'm super fired up for Monday and Tuesday. The race is not only a great warm up to the Solitaire du Figaro, but a really important event in its own right."

The Solo Maître Coq starts Monday 20th April with coastal racing, which continues on Tuesday 21st April (courses and start times to be confirmed). The Solo Maître Coq offshore race starts Thursday 23rd April (start time and final course to be confirmed). The race is set to conclude Saturday 25th April, with an overall prize giving on Sunday 26th April.

You can track Nick Cherry (Redshift), Jack Bouttell (GAC Concise), Henry Bomby (Rockfish), Alan Roberts (Magma Structures), Sam Matson (Chatham), Andrew Baker (Artemis 23), Rob Bunce (Artemis 37) and Robin Elsey (Artemis 43) here, during the coastal and offshore races.

www.solomaitrecoq.com