By romancrance3 — La Solitaire du Figaro
After a lengthy passage to Vigo from Cape Finisterre, the fleet finally had a chance to catch their breath and reflect on the opening leg — assessing what went well, what didn’t, and already casting an eye towards stage two with its distinctly different conditions. The feedback has been invaluable, pinpointing key areas for improvement as the race pushes on. Competing in La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec is no small feat, and these sailors are acutely aware of it. Completing a leg and extracting meaningful lessons is what separates the contenders from the rest — it’s about spotting weaknesses, understanding what needs work, and figuring out why certain tactics simply didn’t deliver.
At the pontoons in Vigo, the skippers faced the media gauntlet. It’s a chance to get beneath the surface — to understand what drives these elite men and women to push themselves so relentlessly in pursuit of high-level competition.
@Vincent Olivaud Tiphaine Ragueneau (ORCOM)
“I’d have been happy with a top-15 finish, but I missed it by just a few seconds, so I’m still pretty chuffed. There’s plenty to work on though — transition phases especially. The others managed to hold their wind through the light air when I couldn’t. That’s clearly a weak spot, and it showed again here. Other than that, I’m satisfied with how the leg went overall. My early-season prep was a bit different, but I’m not getting ahead of myself — it’s only stage one. I was more worried about the light winds than the course-shortening gate. It still counted for points, and we kept the intensity going all the way through. The boat was well-prepped, I never doubted my tactics in the heavy air, and that’s a real positive. Crossing that 40-knot front wasn’t pleasant, but I managed to get some decent rest on it.
“Tiphaine also admitted she’d struggled to eat during the leg. “I really need to sort out my nutrition — I was only managing one meal a day, which isn’t nearly enough. It’s just not going down. That’s definitely something I need to fix.”
@Vincent Olivaud Nicolas Lunven (PRB)
“I really committed to pushing hard through that front. I reckoned it was the winning move. Early on, it looked good, but it didn’t pay dividends later. The wind didn’t shift the way I’d expected, so I couldn’t get back on course — I lost a bit there. Should’ve thought twice about it. We had too many tight reaches and too much breeze this leg. The part where the wind eased up though — there was some brilliant tactical racing, and I absolutely loved it. The course was meant to go offshore, but it tracked along the coast instead. The offshore guys lost out more than us. Tom Dolan on Kingspan managed to pick the right moment to get back on track, but he was the only one who nailed it.”
@Vincent Olivaud Hugo Dhallenne (Skipper Macif 2025)
“That was a proper spicy first leg. We crossed the Channel twice over…
Originally published in French by La Solitaire du Figaro.
