Who would've believed that ? An honor they could not expect. To be the first, the very first even to open the ball of professional recovery in France after the Covid-19 pandemic and the deconfinement. Next Thursday, the sailors of the Figaro Bénéteau circuit will be the first professionals to compete in an official competition in our country. Certainly Patrick Mouratoglou launched tennis players on his Sofia Antipolis courts last weekend but his tournament is not an official event. Unlike the Solo Maître CoQ, which will bring together 30 solo sailors for the first race of the figarist season and an excellent rehearsal long awaited before the Solitaire du Figaro.
"It's super interesting technically and super good for prowling"
Xavier MacaireAt the start scheduled from March 13th to 22nd, the 17th edition of this race contested on the new Figaro-Bénéteau 3 foils will finally offer a modified format to respect the health guidelines. The sailors will set off from Les Sables d'Olonne on Thursday at 1 p.m. for a 340-mile loop between Belle-Ile, Yeu and Ré. A real satisfaction for the organizer Marc Chopin who worked hard with the French Sailing Federation and its vice-president Corinne Migraine to succeed in obtaining the green light from the authorities. “As soon as we could, we got back in touch with the Federation, the town of Sables d'Olonne and with the competent authorities to find out how and in what form we could organize the race. We worked together with the skippers, the class and our partners to adapt the competition to the current context, with very strict prevention protocols on land and at sea ”, explains Marc Chopin.
Armel Le Cléac'h (Banque Populaire), Xavier Macaire (SNEF Group), Yann Eliès (Morbic), Adrien Hardy (Ocean Attitude), Corentin Douguet (NF Habitat) and Gildas Mahé (Breizh Cola) and many others (but not Alexis Loison injured during a training outing) are thus expected next Wednesday in the port of Sables d'Olonne before starting the next day for this first race which will remain in the annals. “The epidemic situation seems to be improving significantly and I take my hat off to the organizers and to all those who fought for the event to finally take place, rejoices Xavier Macaire. If its format has been changed for safety reasons, we are still preparing for a great race that is very similar to a stage of Solitaire du Figaro. It's super interesting technically and super good for prowling. ” Lapping in sight therefore, but no question for the figarists to keep underfoot. Not the kind of house.
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