The best year yet for Artemis Offshore Academy sailors

This morning at 0222am, 24-year-old Magma Structures skipper Alan Roberts became the top British Solitaire du Figaro – Eric Bompard finisher in 40 years. Concluding the four stage solo race in Dieppe ninth overall, Alan Roberts beats Sam Goodchild's historic overall result – 11th in 2013 – by two places and now sits second only to Claire Francis, who finished the race 5th in 1975. Crossing the Leg 4 finish line in 14th, Alan has gone from strength to strength since starting just his second Solitaire in Bordeaux on 31st May. Finishing 24th in Leg 1, 10th Leg 2, 9th Leg 3 and 14th Leg 4, Alan completed the 1,661 mile 2015 Solitaire du Figaro in an accumulative time of 12 days, four hours, 14 minutes and four seconds – seven hours, 12 minutes and 21 seconds behind overall winner Xavier Macaire (Skipper Herault). Yann Elies (Groupe Queguiner – Leucemie Espoir) finished in second, 15 minutes and 31 seconds behind the winner and narrowly missing out on his third Solitaire win. Third overall is Charlie Dalin (Skipper Macif 2015).

"I've grown in confidence this Solitaire. I'm learning more bit by bit. The starts are good for me due to my experience with dinghy sailing, but the rest of it I'm learning from the top guys. I'm pretty happy with how I sailed – slowly creeping my way up through the fleet in both day and night. I was well within the top 10 at one point!" – Alan Roberts (Magma Structures)

Finishing Leg 4 just 41 seconds ahead of Alan in 13th, Artemis Offshore Academy Rookie Robin Elsey sits 15th in overall ranks and top Rookie. Jack Bouttell finished the race 21st overall in 2013 to become the first British skipper to ever win the coveted Rookie division, and Sam Matson finished 14th overall in 2014, earning him second Rookie – Robin now continues their success. Going into Leg 4, Robin was just 53 seconds ahead of chasing Rookie Benoit Mariette (Entrepose). Benoit was far behind Robin on the course to Dieppe, finishing the stage 25th overall.

"That was the toughest leg I've had by far. I kept having these visions of Benoit turning up a few metres from the finish and sailing past me! That wasn't much fun, but once it started to look secure, I relaxed and enjoyed the leg." – Robin Elsey (Artemis 43)

This year has seen the best results yet for the Artemis Offshore Academy and British solo offshore sailing. Jack Bouttell (GAC Concise) has led the British charge for the majority of the race, sailing strong and consistent legs since the off. Finishing Leg 4 23rd of 39 boats, Jack finishes the 2015 Solitaire du Figaro 10th overall, just seven minutes and 46 seconds behind Alan in 9th. Chatham skipper Sam Matson also sailed a solid race, upping his 2014 Rookie position by one place to finish 13th overall in 2015 – Sam meeting his goal of a top 15 result.

Nick Cherry (Redshift) finished Leg 4 in 21st, to see Nick 30th in the overall ranks at present, despite having to abandon Leg 3 after hitting rocks at Ile de Batz. There are still many boats to finish though, with Henry Bomby (Rockfish) and Academy Rookies Andrew Baker (Artemis 23) and Rob Bunce (Artemis 37) still to complete Leg 4.

All results are currently before the jury, with some protests expected.

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