A complete first course set to give a taste of the 50th La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro

50th La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro © Yvan Zedda

The 50 anniversary edition of La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro will open tomorrow, Sunday 2nd June, with a typical, open sea, suspense-filled 553 nautical mile test from Pornichet in the west of France to the popular Irish haven of Kinsale.

This first of four stages will offer several transition zones, key tidal changes where the leaders can escape to widen the gap to their pursuers, and there will be light airs periods as well as winds over 20 knots to ensure this curtain raiser for the new Figaro Bénéteau 3s will be a truly complete test. Follow the race on the new English Twitter account here.

Looking at a chart, the 553 nautical mile passage appears that is should be relatively simple for the 47 solo skippers. But the weather patterns over the coming four days, before the leaders are expected to finish late Wednesday or early hours of Thursday, look set to make this first stage anything but straightforward.

The start gun to send the race on its way will sound at 1625hrs local time off Pornichet. There is a 2.5-mile leg followed by two longer legs before the rankings are taken at the Radio France Buoy.

Alan Roberts, the leading British solo skipper of Seacat Services, who will start his sixth La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro, believes the pressure will be sustained from the start right to the finish, and any early errors could prove expensive.

"Right at the beginning it is key to stay out of trouble," Roberts explained. "After the start in the light winds it important to be with the pack, then getting out of this high pressure ridge and then the cold front into the new south-westerly winds. The Raz de Seine will see the leading boats get through with current. Ushant depends on the timing too. At Ushant do you go west of the TSS or east? East seems safest. Across the Celtic Sea it is close reaching."

Although it will be an open stage with many options, Roberts believes boat speed will be key.

"It will be interesting because it is not normal weather patterns. It will be a weather oriented leg. As we get more into La Solitaire it becomes more coastal, a bit more blocked in terms of what we can do. So this is the most open of all four legs. It is a boat speed race; who can sail fastest towards what they think is the right weather. I think no matter what you have to be rested for the final stage, coming in to the finish. And like every Solitaire leg, there are always places to be gained near the finish," Roberts summarised.

Conrad Colman (Ethical Power) is taking on La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro for the first time. This first leg looks like a baptism of fire for the Kiwi who was the first of his countrymen to race the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe and the Vendée Globe.

He explains: "A lot of Figaro sailors have come up through small boat or Olympic classes or high level dinghies and in one week they have done more starts than I have done in my life. There is a lot of pressure on the early part of the race. It is tricky, I am a 'rouleur' not a sprinter and I need a little time to get up to speed and then I am good when it is about endurance strength. With the weather we have it is going to reward a fast start.

Colman continued: "I have some areas where I am really comfortable and some areas where I have been really struggling. When you don't have a speed benefit, or a technical edge, you need to keep your eye out of the boat and see where to place it. I am less at ease than others, but I am excited about having 500 miles to sort it out!"

Apart from these two skippers there are five other non-French skippers competing this year; Justine Mettraux (SUI)(Teamwork), Tom Dolan (IRL)(Smurfit Kappa), Alberto Bona (ITA)(Sebago), Joan Mulloy (IRL)(Believe in Grace/Buisness Post.ie) and Will Harris (GBR)(Hive Energy).

For the first time ever, and to recognise the extraordinary efforts made by the non-French contingent in this and future Solitaire URGO Le Figaro events, a new trophy, the VIVI Trophy, will be presented to the first non-French skipper overall in the race.

"We hope and believe that by presenting this trophy a new and different focus will develop to communicate the non-French presence in the race," explains Marcus Hutchinson, who alongside his wife Meagan and Elianne & Bernard Lalanne, have presented the trophy. "It will help with the recognition they so badly deserve, in much the same way that the event already recognises the first rookie each year, and maybe even becoming an objective for other non-French skippers looking in from the outside."

Read more about the VIVI trophy here

Leg 1 explained – A look at the weather

At the start and just after, the south-westerly wind will be around 10-12kts but it will be quite unstable. High tide is at 1650hrs at Pornichet and so the fleet will be racing in the first of the ebb tide. At around 2230hrs on that first night, a not very active front is likely to bring a mix of very light unstable air with some stronger puffs. Some light rain showers are possible. But after that the wind will veer to the west then north-west building to 15kts.

Around dawn the leaders should be at the Bourgenay buoy after about 57 testing miles of sailing south down the Vendée coast. After dawn the wind looks set to drop to around 10kts moving to the west and then south-west. But from this mark a more even rhythm should be established on what amounts to about 130 miles out through the Raz de Sein. A calm around Belle Ile seems likely but the leaders should be at the Raz de Sein between 0200hrs and 0400hrs Tuesday morning. Low water here is just after midnight.

Timing off the point of Brittany will see the lateral splits in the fleet open. The choice here is going more north to use the rising, positive tide in the Chenal de Four or to go further west to pass outside the Ushant TSS. All the time here the breeze will start to shift more to the south as an Atlantic depression comes in, the breeze building to more than 20kts.

Strategically the next choice is west of, or inside the Scilly isles. As the wind rotates more to the north-west and north, the option to get west early might be interesting. From the Scilly isles on Tuesday evening there are still 150 miles to the Fastnet and a further 50 miles in to Kinsale. Along the Irish coast it looks light during the night of Wednesday into Thursday and this may allow some compression, and a chance for a bit of a catch up for anyone left behind on the Celtic Sea. But nonetheless, expect some significant deltas when the fleet are finished. This first leg, four nights and three full days at sea, will punish small mistakes.

For more information, visit lasolitaire-urgo.com