By Thomas Howson — La Solitaire du Figaro
Hugo Dhallenne (Skipper Macif 2025) crossed the finish line at Le Havre in second place on Thursday at 01:27:36 French time, just 9 minutes and 39 seconds behind winner Paul Morvan (Foricher – French Touch). The French skipper took 3 days, 6 hours, 27 minutes and 37 seconds to complete the theoretical 630-nautical-mile course of stage three in the 57th edition of La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec. In reality, Dhallenne covered 679.84 nautical miles at an average speed of 8.66 knots. ©Vincent Olivaud
Hugo Dhallenne (Skipper Macif 2025): “Yeah, it’s tough but… but it finishes well! Second place is solid and, well, nothing’s broken, the boat’s flying. I sailed conservatively and it paid off. I thought I’d have a match race with Loïs but Paul just made a break for it. Fair play to him, he was the stronger sailor. It wasn’t easy out there — balaclava, ski mask, spray everywhere, trying to figure out where he was. It’s been a bit of a complicated Solitaire, but… it worked out. We need to do better, better, better… better everywhere. Just better, eh! First leg, I was a bit too aggressive with my strategy on what was a big stage with the crew. Second leg, I made a dodgy call on the weather files late in the day. This one though… well, I reckon we can’t complain about this one.”
Originally published in French by La Solitaire du Figaro.
