Solitaire du Figaro, set off! All cheering for Alberto Bona

Gone! The very difficult solo stage race Solitaire du Figaro, which is being raced on Figaro 3 foils, has begun, with a single Italian oceanic sailor on the starting line from la Baie de Saint Brieuc (Brittany, France), 34-year-old Alberto Bona from Turin on Sebago, many miles behind him already a Solitaire for him, with a great desire to confront the world’s oceanic sailing elite. We are all rooting for him!

There are 35 entrants for this edition of the legendary race, and the first leg will be 642 miles long, still finishing in St. Brieuc, after rounding Wolf Rock (eerie lighthouse off Cornwall) and the better-known Fastnet south of Ireland. A first trial by fire in practice.

From Saint Brieuc on Sept. 6 we will set out for Dunkirk, 497 miles. Then on September 12 from Dunkirk the fleet will set course for Saint Nazaire with an arrival, after 504 miles, in front of the Loire estuary. The fourth stage, on the other hand, will be a 183-mile sprint between the islands in front of Saint Nazaire. A total of 1826 theoretical miles will be covered by skippers in races.

FAVORITES.

Alberto Bona may be an interesting out sider to consider. He has already shown interesting insights in his first participation in this regatta and has never stopped training on the Figaro 3. He will have to contend with the holy monsters of transalpine sailing, starting with Armel Le Cleac’h, a Vendée Globe winner who never loses his desire to sail the Figaro. Xavier Macaire, former miner Tanguy Le Turquais, Britain’s Sam Goodchild and the talented Fabiel Delahaye are just some of the names to watch out for in a stellar fleet.

The overall victory of the Solitaire du Figaro is awarded by the sum of the times of all the stages, so continuity of performance and not falling into slumps that can cost miles and valuable time will prove crucial.

As we write Alberto Bona is in ninth position in the lead group, 2.9 miles behind provisional leader Xavier Macaire. TRACKING

AMBROSE BECCARIA’S COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST STAGE

“I looked at the course and the weather. It looks like a lot of fun, as usual! The thing that will be hardest, as Albi told me in Lorient a few days ago, will be finding the right time to rest, because you have to sleep at some point anyway. The problem is that on this leg there will first be a diminishing northerly wind so currents will become crucial, then a ridge to cross before the arrival of a new depression with a south/southwesterly wind. I think the first 20 and 24 hours will be very important for the ranking, it is a difficult scenario precisely because a ridge is not something you cross by resting! One of the goals Albi has set for himself on this Solitaire is to stay sharp all the way to the finish line, I think on this leg he will have to squeeze in at the beginning and then find his rhythm and live with the boat when the wind is more stable. Go Albi!”

www.lasolitaire.com

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