53rd La Solitaire du Figaro: Jörg Riechers crosses the finish line after a "blackout"

After his success on the first leg of the French classic, Jörg Riechers from Hamburg started the second leg from Port-La-Forêt over 630 nautical miles to Royon full of confidence and hope. In fact, the helmsman from the Hamburg Sailing Club sailed in the front group at the beginning. But then he dropped back sharply. Because no communication with the outside world is permitted in the Figaro, as in the Minis, the reason for this was not immediately clear. Riechers has now explained it: in 30 knots of wind, he was struggling with water in the boat that had penetrated through the inspection hatch of the port foil. To save his batteries, he had to slow down and adjust his sailing style. "I lost six or seven places as a result," he says.

Jörg Riechers: "This is how water got into the boat where there was otherwise never any"

Riecher YACHT online reports in detail how the water ingress came about: "The boats are measured by lot. Three boats are weighed per stage. The lot fell on me. These inspection flaps are super-fragile. The flaps have to be opened so that it can be checked whether there is any cheating with water ballast, for example. When screwing it in, one of the flaps was obviously damaged and poorly closed again. As a result, water got into the boat where there was never any. It got worse and worse, in the end a litre per minute. I later sealed it with huge amounts of Sikaflex. Actually, I should have sailed on the bow for another hour at that point. But I couldn't do that. I had to turn against the twist. Then one thing led to another ..."

Jörg Riechers: "How do you organise a race strategy against opponents like this without any information?"

Jörg Riechers then took a risk in his race to catch up. He actually managed to get within two nautical miles of the leading group by the time he reached Penmarch. But then the on-board computer suddenly went blackout. "I had to fall back on old-school navigation and asked the race organisers for information about the exclusion zones so that I didn't accidentally get into them. But how do you organise a race strategy against opponents like this without any information?" Riechers is not satisfied with 24th place in the field of 32 participants: "I'm very disappointed because this place doesn't reflect my navigation and speed potential at all. I'm also disappointed for my partners who trust me. Now I have to rest and concentrate on the last stage, which starts on Sunday before Royon."

Click here for the video clip showing the arrival of the best on stage two

Sanni Beucke reached the finish of the second leg late on Friday evening shortly before midnight. In a duel with Piers Copham ("Voiles Des Anges"), the helmswoman from Strande was able to relegate the Brit to last place in the Figaro field, reaching the finish line a good half hour ahead of Copham. The Olympic silver medallist in the 49erFX only switched to sailing this year and is learning in the demanding Figaro class for her rise in solo sailing with the long-term goal of participating in the 2028 Vendée Globe.

A newcomer shakes up the Figaro elite

The second stage at La Solitaire du Figaro was won by Frenchman Guillaume Pirouelle on "Region Normandie" ahead of Achille Nebout on "Amaris - Prime Energie" and top favourite Tom Laperche on "Region Bretagne - CMB Performance". Guillaume Pirouelle has thus taken the lead after two of three stages. The Norman continues to cause a stir, as he is also contesting his first La Soiltaire du Figaro and is one of the newcomers described as "bizuth". "Guillaume is smart and ambitious, has been sailing Figaro for two years and has obviously prepared very well with his coach," says Jörg Riechers. Because only the times sailed are added up in La Solitaire du Figaro, not the placings, Jörg Riechers himself fell back brutally from fourth place to 22nd place as a result of the unsuccessful second leg. Susann Beucke is in 31st place with her campaign "This race is female" ahead of the finale. The third and final leg starts on 4 September. Click here for the overall standings.