On 21 August, the 53rd edition of the three-part La Solitaire du Figaro will get underway in the area near the French commune of Saint-Michel-Chef-Chef in the Loire-Atlantique department. Since 2019, La Solitaire du Figaro has been sailed on OneDesign Figaro Beneteau 3 boats with foils. The first stage officially leads from Nantes to Port-la-Forêt (644 nautical miles), the second to Royan (635 nautical miles) and the third to Saint-Nazaire (700 nautical miles). For the first time, two German skippers, Figaro newcomer Sanni Beucke and sailing pro Jörg Riechers, will be among the 34 participants. Neither of them reckons they have any chance of winning. The starting motivation is different for both of them, but in any case includes the will to learn, train and develop.
Susann Beucke: "Everyone says that this race is addictive"
After winning Olympic silver in the 49er FX last summer in Japan, Sanni Beucke switched to sea sailing this year. She sailed her chartered Figaro for the first time on 3 February this year. Since then, Beucke has been training in Lorient in Brittany. She says: "I'm really looking forward to this race, but I also have a lot of respect. Everyone I've spoken to has assured me that this race is addictive." The 31-year-old 49er FX double European champion is daring with her campaign "This race is female".
She upgraded her boat "Giraffon" - identified as "Giraffon Solo Sailor" via AIS during the Figaro race - with new French regatta sails that arrived late last week. With her new Shore crew member Ronja Schomaker, the new sailor is preparing for her Solitaire du Figaro premiere. She recently parted ways with her French preparateur because he was unable to meet her demands for dedication, precision and full throttle. "Maybe it was also a bit of a culture clash," she says thoughtfully. Ronja Schomaker is a dedicated recreational sailor from the Oberbergisch region who has her own transatlantic plans. She responded to an Instagram appeal from Beucke and is now supporting the skipper from Strande on land. In doing so, the two are sending out another signal in favour of the "This race is female" campaign.
Sanni Beucke knows full well that as a Figaro newcomer, she has no chance of reaching one of the top places. She quotes the words of her co-sponsor Marcus Hutchinson, who gave her this advice when she started: "The Figaro class is extremely demanding. Your first year is for watching and learning, your second for acquiring the required qualities, your third for performing."
Susann Beucke: "I know that the reward can come at the end of a long journey"
Beucke has internalised this approach and knew from the outset that she was in for a long and thorny road with poor results. She is investing this time in the long-term goal of participating in the 2028 Vendée Globe, for which she is training with the Lorient Grand Large group and coach Bertrand Pacé. She is coping "frighteningly well" with the lower places she has already achieved in her first regattas. She says: "I won Olympic silver a year ago. On the way there, I learnt that sometimes not being good is part of development. I know that the reward can come at the end of a long journey. I'm good at seeing it as a process." Team partner DB Schenker wants to go down this path with her. The ambitious sailor from Strande, who competes for the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, has no shortage of support.
Jörg Riechers: "Speed is a very important piece of the puzzle in the Figaro class"
Hamburg professional Jörg Riechers is looking forward to his Figaro premiere on "Alva Yachts" in a slightly different way: he wants to further hone his already highly developed skills and also has his sights set on participating in the 2024 Vendée Globe. Riechers has often proven his outstanding solo qualities with top placings in major regattas over the past three decades. Nevertheless, Figaro sailing is a completely different challenge. Riechers explains: "Speed is a very important piece of the puzzle in the Figaro class. In theory, I'm in the top ten. But it's something completely different to really get all the pieces of the puzzle right in this complex class. I'm not quite there yet, but I'm working on it. You need time to get to the top. Before that, you're not at the front like Tom Laperche or the two or three others who can hold a candle to him and perhaps attack him in the upcoming race. The Figaro class is the most demanding class in terms of performance. If you're really good here, you can dominate in the Class 40, for example."
Accordingly, Jörg Riechers, who knows all the tricks of the trade, has set himself the minimum target of the top 20 for his Solitaire du Figaro outing. "We'll see about the rest. After all, it's a timed race. You can't underperform in any of the three stages. It's no problem to finish 25th if the time gap is small. But you can easily drop six hours on a stage like the second one, for example, if you arrive in the Gironde estuary after the tide. This happens just before the finish and is extremely difficult mentally. The moment you start to doubt your abilities, you start to lose and are just a piece of toast. We are dealing with three legs of 635 to 700 nautical miles each. Strategy, tactics and endurance are required."
Jörg Riechers: "You have to be careful when you get into the red zone"
The roughly three-day breaks between races give the soloists little time to recover. "You have to be very careful when you get into the red zone," says Riechers with experience from other races. "Once you're in there, it can quickly go further downhill. You also have to know exactly where to take calculated risks on this course. And where not. If you dare to break out, but the other 34 don't, then you're very likely on the wrong boat given the quality of this fleet." But it can also be different. Riechers recalls that Nico Troussel was even able to win a Figaro twice by breaking away.
Since 1970, La Solitaire du Figaro has marked a high point in French solo sailing. The class is regarded as the toughest training school for France's best, who are now facing increasing international competition. Never before in the history of the race have two German starters competed at the same time. For the time being, Sanni Beucke's minimum goal on her journey is to finish. Riechers wants a little more: "For reasons of pride, I would hate to finish the race in the back ten. At the end, I'd like to feel that I've sailed a good Figaro." Unlike in other major ocean races, the soloists attach great importance to the Figaro start despite the marathon course that follows. Beucke says: "You have to be fully committed right from the start. I would never have thought that with such a long course. You have to be as consistent at the start as you would be in a short fleet race, because it immediately determines your positioning for the next few hours, which you then build on." Information about La Solitaire du Figaro can be found here. And here is one Figaro clip to look forward to the start next Sunday.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
