Yoann Richomme wins La Solitaire Bompard Le Figaro Leg 2
by La Solitaire Bompard Le Figaro 29 Jun 2016 18:09 BST
29 June 2016
Yoann Richomme, the 33-year-old sailor from Lorient at the helm of Skipper Macif 2014, completed an impressive win at the end of an intensely competitive stage two of the Solitaire Bompard Le Figaro today.
After taking the lead from the initial pace-setter, Gildas Morvan on Cercle Vert, who dominated the early stages from the start at Cowes, Richomme held the initiative as the fleet raced across the English Channel from Land's End and then stayed out in front during two fast passages of the Chenal du Four and a tour of the Iroise Sea.
Richomme was chased all the way to the line by Nicolas Lunven on Generali, Charlie Dalin on Skipper Macif 2015 and Morvan but he got to the finish at Paimpol nearly 22 minutes ahead of Lunven, 26 minutes ahead of Dalin and 31 minutes before Morvan.
More importantly he was around one hour and 11 minutes ahead of leg one winner Erwan Tabarly who had just a seven-minute cushion over Richomme – who was second on the opening stage - at the start of this leg. Thus Richomme has secured his pace at the top of the provisional overall standings.
For Richomme, who discovered sailing when he crossed the Atlantic with his family in 2000, this was a first leg win in the Solitaire on his seventh attempt at this gruelling, four-stage grand-prix. After that voyage he studied yacht design at Southampton University on the English south coast and was a regular competitor with a student team on the Tour de France à la Voile.
After graduating in 2006 he worked as a preparateur for skippers Charles Caudrelier and Nicolas Lunven before joining the Figaro circuit himself in 2010 when he finished second in the rookie rankings. His best overall finish to date was fourth place in 2013 and he knows that he is now in the perfect position to clinch his first overall win at the halfway point.
After one of the toughest opening legs in the history of the event, stage two was marginally easier with – in relative terms – a slightly more predictable meteo background. But it was still a real test with a long beat down the English coast complete with tidal gates and wind-holes before the challenging sector of the course in strong winds in the rock-strewn Iroise Sea.
In the rookie championship, Britain's Will Harris on Artemis 77 was the first finisher in the leg, getting in ahead of second-placed Justine Mettraux.
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