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Quotes from the dock :

Yann Eliès (Groupe Queguiner - Le Journal des Entreprises), Leg 3 and overall winner of La Solitaire du Figaro Solitaire du Figaro #LaSolitaire 2012 :

“At last, this was my thirteenth Solitaire ! After having been so close to it twice, I’m so happy with this win and how it all went down to the very last stretch. To win you need to be hard on yourself and never give up. The three skippers behind me are the future champions, one has already won it and the other two will surely do one day. They are very, very strong. I needed to be on another planet, on my very own little cloud to beat them. Since the start I’ve managed to do what I wanted, it may look simple from the outside, but believe me it’s so hard. I’ve been constantly questioning my choices, taking high risks, working hard because this is what one needs to push the boat. I reckon I’ve come of age now, it’s been so many years that I have raced the Figaro, the tricks, the best trim, the boat handling they come with experience, you don’t need to think about them. And after 13 races I guess they are part of me now. I’ve been thinking about my father (who won the race back in 1979), my parents who are in Polynesia and surely are watching this. I’ve thought about my son Titouan because I won my first leg in 2002 the year he was born here in Cherbourg. I’ve been pondering all along the race and I came up with a thought : I have to win in Cherbourg.”

Morgan Lagravière (Vendée), 2^nd on Leg 3 and 2^nd overall :

“I’m happy, exhausted but elated. This is the best result of my whole sailing career, even if it’s not really a victory because I finish second. Because I got it through suffering. No matter what they say, La Solitaire is a hard race. And on this kind of legs it’s a pain, all those days fighting, enduring… It was like racing on a dinghy but for 50 or 60 hours and I managed to stay in between performance and exhaustion. I’m the happiest man on earth today, maybe even more than Yann ! ”

Nicolas Lunven (Generali), 4th on Leg 3 and 3rd overall :

“I’m very pleased, because it was not easy with Fabien (Delahaye) and Morgan (Lagravière). Yann had a good margin during this leg, but with the other two it was very, very close. At a certain point I was no longer sure to get on the podium, that’s why I am so happy. It’s been a tricky leg, the forecast from Météo Consult was right, the wind was variable and shifty. I slept very little, even last night after rounding Fairway, the breeze was so unstable… It’s good it’s over !”

Thomas Normand (Financière de l’Echiquier), 27th in the third leg and 1st ‘rookie’ overall :

“I have mixed feelings about this win because Julien (Villion) has done a very nice race and I’m a bit frustrated for not having dueled with him. Still, I’m super happy to have reached my goal and to win among the rookies. It’s something I’ve been dreaming about over the last six months of training. I do not properly realize it is for real, I guess it will sink in later. I’ve heard and read so many things about La Solitaire, the sailors’ stories that said it’s hard, it’s intense, but I didn’t expect it to be like this. It’s crazy, one has to live it to understand, and this puts Yann’s victory and last year’s win by Jérémie (Beyou) into a completely different perspective, once one has experienced it. You realize how hard it is to make such a performance. You keep discovering more about yourself day by day during this race, finding your limits are always a bit further than you thought.”

Sam Goodchild (GBR, Artemis 23) 24th overall :

“This was good race, I had a lot of fun. It was very, very hard work as the wind didn’t stop changing, it was quite close racing but I generally managed to hang on to the front pack for a bit longer which made it a lot more productive as I learnt a lot more from sailing next to guys who know what they were doing. I am really happy to end the Solitaire du Figaro Solitaire du Figaro #LaSolitaire on a high ! The whole leg was great and being with the leaders for the leg was really rewarding as I learnt so much. The low for me is that I have had so little sleep, maybe just two or three hours in the last 72 hours. I got half an hour last night, in two slots of 15 minutes, which is the most I’ve had since the start. Before though that I hadn’t slept for than 10 minutes at a time as it was impossible as the wind hasn’t stayed the same for more than five minutes.”

Nick Cherry (GBR, Artemis 77) 25th overall :

“I started as bad as I could have done. When I was rounding the third mark in a big bunch of boats I was halfway through dropping the spinnaker when I accidentally knocked off the autopilot with my leg, so I had to let go of the spinnaker to avoid a collision with another boat. The end result wasn’t the best result ever but I enjoyed the leg and took a lot away from it.”

Henry Bomby (GBR, Artemis 37) 31st overall :

“Looking at the end result I think I finished 20 minutes behind the leader, which is fantastic. I was at the back of the pack that finished first, so considering the problems I had at the beginning of the leg and how I dealt with them on this leg compared to the previous leg I have learnt a lot which is really positive. However coming round the Needles Fairway I filled the ballast on the wrong side so I lost a bit doing that. I was aching all over and barely had enough energy to trim sails. I then slept for half an hour and got back into it for the final few hours – I have never found a bit of the race that hard before.”

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