The start of race n°4 of the Solo Maitre CoQ was given on Thursday 27th April at 12:00 pm in the Baie des Sables d'Olonne. The 40 Figaro sailors set off without any problems on the long coefficient 3 course in light winds of 5 knots and oscillating between 0° and 30°. At the clearing buoy, Nicolas Lunven, skipper of Generali, turned the mark in the lead before setting off under spinnaker towards the Ile de Ré and being overtaken by Martin Le Pape, skipper of Macif 2017, as he passed the bridge of the Ile de Ré. The whole fleet, very grouped together, passed this strategic point in 15 minutes. They then headed towards Belle-Île. Following the unstable weather forecast for the end of the course, the latter was modified and reduced to 260 nautical miles, with the arrival of the frontrunners scheduled for the morning of Saturday 29th April.
After more than 24 hours, the Solo Maître CoQ fleet was tacking in a light wind towards the Birvideaux lighthouse. The first to round this point, Nicolas Lunven on Generali was ahead of Sébastien Simon on Bretagne CMB Performance, against whom he put up a good fight neck and neck. Barely two nautical miles behind, Erwan Tabarly (Armor Lux) completed the leading trio. The fleet of 37 Figaro sailors still racing, following the retirements during the night of Pierre Leboucher, Théo Moussion and Eric Delamare, then set course for the small barges, leaving Belle-Île to port. It looks set to be a difficult progression with a good weather transition next night and an ETA forecast for the frontrunners on the finish line mid morning.
After 49 hours of racing, Nicolas Lunven (Generali) won the big race with a coefficient 3 and won the 14th edition of the Solo Maître CoQ, signing a third victory on this classic sablaise. Throughout the 260 nautical miles of the course, the yachtsman from Valenciennes led a fine battle against Sébastien Simon (Bretagne CMB Performance) and Erwan Tabarly (Armor Lux). In the provisional general ranking before the jury, the skipper of Generali is ahead of Sébastien Simon and Jérémie Beyou (Charal). Pierre Quiroga (skipper Espoir CEM), who had been the leader until Thursday morning, failed to make it to the foot of the podium. On the rookie side, Julien Pulvé of Team Vendée Formation won the ranking, a result that gives him confidence for the rest of the race.
"I'm sure I'm fine when we win! Yet from the outset it wasn't easy. I pass the clearance buoy in the lead and 5 minutes later it was already a fairy tale. I was 9th under the bridge on the Ile de Ré. But I hung on, I didn't give up despite the reversals. And God knows there were some on this race! But everything went well. I had a lot of success in everything I did or tried to do. We had a good fight with Erwan and Sebastien. Throughout the race, it was always one shot one after the other. Each time, I always managed to get back in front, or even get the small lead that was enough. Overall victory is great. When I left on Thursday, I hadn't taken the leaderboard and didn't have the points in the lead. I learned of my victory in the general standings once I crossed the line. The icing on the cake! During the transition last night, I was pretty confident at first because I thought the wind was going to come in from land. So I moved between the fleet and the coast and I thought: "As long as everyone is stopped, not much will happen. The wind's going to come back to me first." That was the plan, but that's not what happened. Erwan scared me. Shifted further west, he started again a little bit before me. This allowed him to make up his delay and to be threatening all the way to the Little Barges buoy. It's always like that. We have an idea in mind. We think it's the right one and we realise along the way that the competitors have other ideas in mind and that they're not that stupid. This is my third win on the Solo Master CoQ. It's good to win again! It's been a while since I've won a Figaro race. It's good for the heart, especially in front of such a big stage!" said Nicolas Lunven upon his arrival.
