La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec: Nico Lunven wins, Boris Herrmann congratulates

The 57th La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec has a worthy overall winner: with fourth place on the final leg from Pornichet to Le Havre, "PRB" skipper Nico Lunven has secured one of the most important and coveted titles in solo sailing. Alexis Thomas ("Wings of the Ocean") and Paul Morvan ("Foricher -French Touch") took the other podium places. Paul Loiseau ("Région Bretagne - CMB Espoir") just missed out on the podium in fourth place and best newcomer.

Boris Herrmann congratulates Figaro winner Nico Lunven

The latest Figaro success for the long-time navigator in Boris Herrmann's Team Malizia comes nine years after his last Figaro victory. The Frenchman won the 2009 and 2017 editions. The modest professional made his phenomenal comeback with great skill and also plenty of experience from the Imoca-Crcuit. At his first Vendée Globe 2024/2025 had Nico Lunven on "Holcim - PRB" Sixth place.

Nico Lunven sailed around the world with Team Malizia, Boris Herrmann, Rosalin Kuiper and Will Harris in The Ocean Race 2023. Six-time circumnavigator Boris Herrmann knows Nico Lunven well and said: "Nico is one of the best sailors in our world. I am extremely happy for him. The Solitaire du Figaro is incredibly tough. It's the hardest race of all."

The Figaro is like Olympic sailing plus offshore plus marathon. You could see that yesterday too, how it affects the best. In this respect, Nico is at the peak of his career, his creative power. That's great to see!" Boris Herrmann

Figaro favourite Tom Dolan ("Kingspan") had previously been eliminated in the final stage of La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec. The first non-French Figaro winner of 2024 was in the first hour of the morning of 3 June at Chaussée de Sein due to run. The underwater rock reef off the western tip of Brittany, which is around 32 kilometres long, is notorious and cost the Irish a tangible race victory.

Nico Lunven: the fifth Figaro maestro with three victories

In this La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec with its many twists and turns, Nico Lunven managed to stay within striking distance of the title until the decisive final stage between Pornichet and Le Havre. As a maestro of quiet tones, Lunven managed his strength well and also parried the strategic challenges well until he had completed his historic third victory.

At the age of 42, Nico Lunven's success also confirms his status as one of the leading figures in the Figaro class. He now belongs to the exclusive circle of triple winners of the La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec. Michel Desjoyeaux (1992, 1998, 2007), Jérémie Beyou (2005, 2011, 2014), Yann Eliès (2012, 2013, 2015) and Armel Le Cléac'h also achieved this feat. The six experts who have won the race twice include Vendée Globe runner-up Yoann Richomme.

Nico Lunven secured his third victory on the third and final stage. On the course from Pornichet to Le Havre, the Figaro soloists were confronted with a series of complex situations between Brittany and the English Channel. The turning point came with the retirement of overall leader Tom Dolan, who had opened the stage at the top of the overall standings. Behind him, everything was wide open.

Fourth place was enough to triumph in the Figaro final sprint

Loïs Berrehar ("Banque Populaire"), Boris Herrmann's co-skipper in the Ocean Race Europe, had taken the lead before the gaps narrowed again. Along the traffic separation zone, Hugo Dhallenne reminded the fleet that he was still a serious contender. But in the end it was Paul Morvan on "Foricher - French Touch" who snatched the stage win from his rivals. However, Nico Lunven snatched the overall victory with fourth place in the final sprint.

Alexis Thomas crowned his outstanding Solitaire campaign with sixth place on the stage, leaping to second place on the Figaro podium. He was only 24 minutes and 44 seconds behind winner Lunven. Stage winner Paul Morvan completed the podium of the top three. The first stage had taken the fleet from Perros-Guirec to Vigo. Despite the many tactical challenges in the Bay of Biscay, the small time gaps made it clear just how competitive the field was this year.

Tom Dolan had won the opening stage after pulling away just a few miles before the finish line at Cape Finisterre. The second of the three stages The second leg of the race, which was held for the first time in 1970, raised the bar even higher with significantly lighter winds and constant shifts in position at the front. At the start of the final leg, six skippers still had a realistic chance of overall victory.

The winning concept: fight like a lion

From Nico Lunven's perspective, it looked like this: "I had convinced myself that this stage would be divided into two parts. The first stretched from the start to the western cardinal buoy in front of Sein. And then came the really difficult part, where there would be no sleeping and we would have to fight in tough conditions, with strong winds and heavy aft seas. Conditions that I had never experienced on this boat before."

I told myself that I wasn't going to give up and stand idly by and watch the others sail away, so I fought like a lion. Maybe even a little too hard, because in the end I lost a spinnaker!" Nico Lunven

The winner also explained his Figaro comeback after a long time at the finish. Nico Lunven said: "I had been thinking about returning to La Solitaire for a while. When Yoann (ed.: Vendée Globe runner-up Yoann Richomme) started talking about it seriously last summer, I thought to myself: we can't let him do it alone, I'll go with him and make his life difficult. In the end, he left me alone and that turned out to be a pretty good idea!"

Lunven's declaration of love for La Solitaire

Commenting on the fascination of Figaro sailing and his current race, Nico "The Brain" Lunven, who earned this nickname in Team Malizia as a smart navigator, said: "I really enjoyed it! I really had a lot of fun during the first and second stages. Even on this third leg - although downwind sailing in strong winds and such conditions is not necessarily one of my favourites. We really pulled it off!"

I have rediscovered exactly what I came back for: the joy of sailing with a Figaro. A type of sailing that makes me feel good. I feel at home in this sport. That really is the story of this whole Solitaire." Nico Lunven