The final stage podium celebrated in Saint-Nazaire – News | The lonely one

Last night, the last two competitors of La Solitaire du Figaro reached the port of Saint-Nazaire, tired, scarred, but happy to have arrived and to have surpassed themselves. Both will not be classified on this stage, because they arrived out of time but the main thing is elsewhere. … This is about courage, self-transcendence, self-sacrifice, resilience. Suzann Beucke (This race is female) and Piers Copham (Voile des Anges) went through all the states: fear, and dejection. Their Figaro Beneteau 3s also suffered a lot, in particular their battered and torn sails. The two sailors, by going to the end, by crossing this line, here in Loire-Atlantique, have won the respect of all.

Prize-giving for the Royan – Saint-Nazaire stage

The organizer of the Race OC Sport Pen Duick invited the inhabitants of Nazaire today to come and greet the sailors on the occasion of the prize-giving ceremony for the 3rd stage between Royan and Saint Nazaire. This last leg was certainly the hardest of the three contested this year: 640 miles, an open sea leg in the Bay of Biscay. In addition to coming to terms with what was at stake there: winning La Solitaire du Figaro, the sailors had to manage the sporty weather conditions with gusts of up to 40 knots associated with a substantial swell of 2 to 4 meters. Where some would have wisely hunkered down, the sailors of La Solitaire du Figaro are working tirelessly to make the most of these conditions and reach the finish line as quickly as possible.

The podium of the third stage: Performance, Hope and life in roto

At this little game, the Trinitain Tom Laperche (Brittany Region – CMB Performance) is unquestionably the strongest of the 32 sailors taking part in this leg, he who seized the lead in the race in Spain and never let go. He won in 3 days 06 hours 54 minutes.

Gaston Morvan (Région Bretagne – CMB Espoir), which is fearless, goes on the attack and also achieves a solid downwind leg. Gaston Morvan climbs on the second step of the podium after 3 days 23h and 23 minutes

Finally, Elodie Bonafous (Queguiner – La Vie en rose) and Nils Palmieri (TeamWork) deliver a race within the race, a match race with placements and jibes to the Line. Elodie ends up winning at the end of an exciting match and becomes the first Frenchwoman to appear on a podium in La Solitaire du Figaro, with a race time, for this stage of 3 days 07 hours and 42 minutes.

Vivy Trophy

Nils Palmieri (TeamWork), the Swiss who loved the open sea, therefore finished fourth. But by achieving the best foreign performance on this stage, he won the Vivi Trophy.

Bénéteau Ranking of Rookies

Bénéteau, the iconic Vendée shipyard that builds the Figaro is sponsoring this ranking; a way of encouraging the young shoots of ocean racing, those who are taking part in La Solitaire du Figaro for the first time. By finishing fifth in the stage, Guillaume Pirouelle (Normandy Region) wins this ranking.

Suzuki Combativeness Award

This prize awarded by the partner Suzuki rewards combativeness, daring and performance, values ​​dear to the company. For this third stage, the choice of the jury made up of 5 people (3 members of Suzuki, 1 journalist, the race director and a member of the organization, OC Sport Pen Duick), fell on Elodie Bonafous (QUEGUINER – La Vie en Rose).

Alain Le Meur, Director of Press Relations and Public Relations of Suzuki Automobile details the reasons for this choice: “Our choice for this third stage is Elodie Bonafous. Approaching the Farallones Islands, her choice of trajectory enabled her to climb back up and position herself well in the fleet. She dared and performed well. Then she had a very good duel with Nils Palmieri, a fierce confrontation in which she showed tenacity until the line where she finished third in the stage. Finally, we wanted to salute the fact that Elodie is the first Frenchwoman to stand on the podium of La Solitaire du Figaro.”

This prize is particularly appreciated by skippers and in this case Elodie is delighted with this recognition:

“It’s a great pride to receive this prize which is representative of my state of mind during this third leg. All the sailors are combative, we all have the knives between our teeth until the end. I really wanted to do it for myself, to show that I was capable of finishing by doing things well until the end. I’m so glad I managed to do it. The stage was really played out in the mind until the end; I never gave up. I am very proud to receive this award; many of us deserve it; it’s a little extra that rewards the work done, thank you! “

They said:

Susann Beucke – This race is female

“It was extremely difficult. I have no words to describe all that I have been through. I had never seen so much wind before. I was very scared and this was the first time my fear influenced my thoughts. I had to fight this to take care of my boat. My goal, by coming here on La Solitaire du Figaro, was to finish this race, to discover the race without objective of result. When my genoa tore, I felt like giving up because it made no sense to continue.

And then I decided to continue, to go to the finish no matter what, even if I wasn’t going to do the time limit. Yann Chateau, the race director, helped me in this decision by supporting me and reassuring me about my ability to go all the way.”.

Piers Copham – Veils of Angels

“This leg was frustrating: I had the most beautiful gennaker of my life on board. The first 60 miles went well. But you have a gust where the wind goes from 20 to 37 knots in thirty seconds, I challenge anyone to handle that.

This boat is incredible, downwind with 20 knots, it pitches up and throws sprays of water more than 10 meters away, this feeling of flight is unforgettable. For perhaps over an hour the boat never went below 15 knots. I have now become completely addicted to this sensation !

This Solitaire du Figaro was incredible for me too because I wear the colors of the Voile des Anges association, which supports families who have lost a child prematurely. It is always very strong to meet these parents and to make their child’s name exist on the hull of the boat. The cliché would be to say it’s a dream to be here, but it’s so true. This race is fantastic; All I can say is that I would love to come back. When ? How ? I do not know. Yes the race is hard but I urge all those who dream of it to come and participate in La Solitaire du Figaro”