Pierre Quiroga, KEDGE graduate, won the second leg of the Solitaire du Figaro sailing race!

Created in 1970, the Solitaire du Figaro, the oldest major French race, is sailed solo in four stages.

It took Pierre Quiroga 2 days, 18 hours, 43 minutes, and 45 seconds to win the second leg of the Solitaire du Figaro 2021. It was also the time it took him to sail from Lorient to Fécamp and cross the finish line this morning at 08:43 am, almost an hour ahead of his closest rival. The sailor from the South of France set off on this last event of the season with the unpretentious goal of winning a stage. How exciting it must have been to earn both a 2nd and 1st place ranking at the halfway point, let him take the lead in the provisional general rankings. As the Solitaire du Figaro is well known for its time rankings, this put him more than 1 hour 36 minutes ahead of the second-placed skipper, Xavier Macaire, who had a lead of more than 47 minutes over Pierre when he won the first leg, is a magnificent victory. quirogapierre.com

"This victory was the main goal that Hans Roger (Director of Marine Activities at MACIF) and I had set ourselves. Winning is a beautiful thing, I wanted to get that feeling back after last year's Solo Guy Cotten. Some people will say that it’s too risky to go it alone, but it proves that when I take these types of risks (as I did in the great Solo Maître CoQ race) it works! It's a style of sailing that works for me when I do it sensibly. The departure was very invigorating as I had predicted, it was spectacular out on the water. From the first night, we had our gennaker set at 110° true wind, we were very wet with 15-17 knots of speed. It was very difficult to leave the helm before attacking the climb back up towards the rocks where, once again, I had to be alert right up to the end because the forecasted wind was not there. I lost quite a bit of time on my tacking over the last three miles, but victories must be earned, so I went for it. The most tricky moment, of course, was when I decided to leave the group and set my own course, but I took it on fully. I enjoy sailing the way I did. It created some fun and was nice to watch. My motivation for the next stage is the same. I’ve reached my goal, but I will take other wins if I have the chance. I'll try to have as much pleasure sailing the second leg of the race as I did in the first - even more since I’m at the top of the general ranking. - Pierre Quiroga

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