British sailors are beginning to turn a few heads in the short-handed Figaro world by producing some exceptional early season results in this highly competitive class. The Figaro class is considered by many as the essential stepping-stone to a successful solo sailing career – with the Vendée Globe as the ultimate goal. The uniqueness of this class sees the seasoned professionals return year on year to sharpen their skills against the new ‘young guns’ on the circuit. This season will see a trio of UK entrants, competing in what has always been a French dominated domain. This monthly newsletter will follow the experiences of the UK entrants this summer as they continue to learn and gain experience so they can ultimately follow in the footsteps of the UK’s most famous solo sailors…
Two Figaro calendars run concurrently through 2011 – one unofficial including the Solo Basse Normandie and the Transmanche and the ‘official’ calendar where points count towards the annual Figaro Champions de France. The highlight of the official calendar is the Soliaire du Figaro that in August attracts top level professional and ‘rookie’ sailors alike to compete on the same playing field in this one design class
Previous competitors include Britain’s Samantha Davies, Vendée Globe winners Michel Desjoyeaux and Alain Gautier, and Jules Verne record holder Frank Cammas, who have all been on the start line multiple times in their careers.
Sam Goodchild, Conrad Humphreys, and Nigel King – the three British sailors already entered in this year’s Solitaire du Figaro – will be in the starting blocks of this four-leg event on 29th July with potentially a fourth, Phil Sharp, still looking for funding. All the British sailors entered are part of the Artemis Offshore Academy training programme at one level or another, and are competing in a number of Figaro events throughout the year.
John Thorn Performance Director of the Artemis Offshore Academy commented on the level of British Figaro talent said: “There is no doubt the training is working. While it is still early days and we have yet to compete head to head with the best of the French Figaro sailors, we are definitely making progress and certainly getting better which is what it is all about. We are under no illusions however, that there is still quite a bit of the mountain to climb. However, thanks to the training that the Artemis Offshore Academy provides, these British sailors are progressing up the curve well.”
Sam Goodchild – the 21-year old who won the Artemis Offshore Academy annual Figaro scholarship* earlier this year – is showing some real potential with some impressive results including a second place overall in the Solo Basse-Normandie race (20-23 May) where he was beaten into first by fellow Artemis Offshore Academy member Phil Sharp.
Goodchild followed up this result with a second place in the opening double-handed Channel Race in the UK Figaro National Championship hosted at the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy. Talking about Artemis Offshore Academy and the Figaro class, Goodchild commented: “Winning the scholarship is a dream come true because not only do I get a boat to use, but I also get the practical and financial support which allows me to spend more time training and racing. The Figaro class is also the perfect platform because it gives people like me a unique opportunity to race against and learn from some of the world’s most successful solo sailors who compete in races like the Solitaire du Figaro.”
After his fair share of gear problems this year in both the Solo Concarneau and the Solo Basse-Normandie, 38-year-old global sailor from Plymouth, Conrad Humphreys, was really able to show his true colours in 30-knots of breeze during the first stage of the double-handed UK Figaro National Championship, where he and his co-skipper, Artemis Offshore Academy member – Ollie Young, aboard DMS stormed across the Channel from Cherbourg to Weymouth at a startling pace and notched up their first win of the event before finishing in second place overall to the experienced Figaro duo of Jean-Charles Monnet and Alexandre Toulorge. Conrad now plans to complete in just one more event – the Transmanche (9-12 June) – before the start of the Solitaire du Figaro.
Nigel King has been absent from the Figaro racing circuit since September 2009 but he is now back in race mode with a sponsored campaign in the run-up to his third Solitaire du Figaro race. Sailing E-line Orthodontics, King made a positive comeback in the Solo Basse-Normandie race, and the UK Figaro National Championship, and says these events were just what he needed to get back in the ‘saddle’: “Although I am really struggling with boat speed I know this is partly due to me being off the circuit for such a long time. One thing I have learnt about Figaro racing is, if you don’t sail 100 per cent, then you won’t win. I am clearly not at my maximum yet but at least now I can make a plan going forward.”
* In addition to the significant training programme the Artemis Offshore Academy provides, there is one additional ‘prize’ of a season’s racing, with budget, to compete in the Solitaire du Figaro. It is a bonus prize rather than the only mission of the Academy, which aims over the coming years to widen the base of potential solo ocean racers, with the aim of putting a British sailor on the podium in 2020. To that end existing ‘graduates’ of the Academy (Sharp, Goodchild, Cherry and King), Associate sailor Humphreys who had his own campaign when joining the Academy and future Development Squad sailors are racing in events throughout the year right up to the Tour of Brittany double-handed race in early autumn.