53rd La Solitaire du Figaro: From Zero to Hero - the Riechers counterattack

Who would have thought it? Hamburg sailing pro Jörg Riechers has achieved a masterstroke on the first leg of the French solo classic La Solitaire du Figaro. Riechers had made a satisfactory start to the race, but had fallen back to the back of the field in the meantime. In the final sprint, he took fourth place with a successful breakaway attempt.

Jörg Riechers: "Some people were surprised that a German was so far ahead"

The starting signal for the first stage was given on 21 August near Nantes. Winner Fred Duthill ("Le Journal Des Entreprises") completed the 644 nautical mile stage in 3 days, 18 hours, 24 minutes and 59 seconds. Tom favourite Tom Laperche, who had led the fleet of 34 Beneteau Figaro 3 sailors for a long time, only crossed the finish line in ninth place almost two hours after the stage winner. In between, 53-year-old Riechers was able to place fourth in his second Figaro participation. After the first of three stages, he is just over an hour behind the leader. The response in the harbour? "Some people were surprised that a German was so far ahead. But many people already have me on their list as a Frenchman...", said Jörg Riechers with a smile in the harbour. Click here for the Intermediate results by stage one.

"My race had started well," says Riechers shortly after arriving in Port-La-Forêt. He continues: "Everything went according to plan until Bshops Rock. Then I had the brilliant idea of a gybe. That was disastrous, a really big mistake." After that, Riechers even fell behind Sanni Beucke in the middle section of the stage, who was expected to finish in 32nd place on Wednesday afternoon. "I was annoyed with myself," said Riechers, describing his feelings over the past few days. At the same time, he knew in the second half of the stage "that a front would come from the west at some point." However, the tide only turned on the Isles of Scilly. "It was dead calm there," recalls the Alva Yachts skipper. He realised that he had to escape the doldrums. This was achieved in conjunction with the successful escape attempt. "Philippe Hartz (editor: third at the finish), myself and two other sailors then managed to break out. And that was it." Here you can read the Arrival of the soloists can also be watched on repeat.

From one of the back places the day before, Riechers literally jumped up to fourth place overnight by simply rounding many of the boats in front of him. This suddenly made him the number one topic of conversation among the waiting crowd of fans and journalists. YACHT online received astonished and impressed messages from France. Riechers himself commented wearily, honestly and humbly on his coup: "There was also a bit of luck involved. And it was really hard work to sail the boat at 25 knots under spinnaker. We saw an option and it worked." Riechers arrived in Port-La-Forêt on the last night completely without sleep, very tired but happy. "The Figaro demands everything from you. We now have two full days of rest. The second stage starts on Sunday." He knew that he had achieved a top result, said Riechers. "But that doesn't mean I have to believe that I'm top of the world and can rock the Figaro. What I do know is that I'm fast. So now it's time to keep at it!"

Riecher's outlook for the second leg of La Solitaire du Figaro from Port-La-Forêt over 635 nautical miles to Royan is respectful: "It's going to be tough! The passage from Guernsey is very current-rich and tricky. Then there's the arrival: if you arrive at the wrong time, you can lose a lot of hours."