A race via Virtual Regatta
Last Friday - it was 13 March 2020 - the organisers of the Solo Maître CoQ, the first race on the Figaro Bénéteau calendar, announced its report. However, after some thought, and faced with the disappointment of the skippers, the race organisers decided that it would indeed take place, but in a virtual way.
"The announcement of the postponement of the race was naturally well understood by all the Figaro racers, but the disappointment was obviously palpable. All of them were obviously keen to fight it out after two months devoted exclusively to training. That's why we decided, in collaboration with Virtual Regatta, to cultivate the festivities and to offer them the chance to confront each other in spite of everything", explains Marc Chopin, President of the club Les Sables-d'Olonne Vendée Course au large, organizer of the Solo Maître CoQ
Thus, this Thursday 19th March to 13th March, the 27 skippers entered will be able to take the start of the big race of the competition. From their computers, the sailors will set off from Les Sables-d'Olonne for a 340-mile loop via the Ile de Ré, Belle-Île, the Rochebonne plateau and the Houlographic buoy off Cap Ferret.
For this course, identical to last year's, the skippers will be equipped with the "all options" pack under their usual race name.
The general public invited to participate
The public will be able to sail alongside these professional sailors and try to compete alongside the top Figaro racers. There will therefore be two rankings, a first reserved for professionals and a second general ranking. Denis Hugues, race director, will also be on hand.
An interesting initiative
In view of the interviews with the Figarists, this initiative has been well received and is proving to be a very good way of bringing everyone together.
"In the past, I've played a lot of Virtual Regatta. In particular, I took part in the Vendée Globe 2008 and then 2012. More recently I took part in the prologue to the Transat Jacques Vabre and it was really nice. I think it's a great idea to offer to do the big race in this Solo Maître CoQ, especially at this time. It's going to be very nice, even if I think we're going to have a hard time competing against the real specialists in virtual exercise. Circumstances mean that the general public is going to confront us directly. It can only be fun for everyone." explains Achille Nebout (BeGreen Ocean).
Pierre Quiroga (Skipper Macif 2019) : "Last year, at the time of the Solitaire du Figaro, there was a whole small group of us who started out on Virtual Regatta. We thought it was fun to "fight" with our friends and we're still doing it regularly now. It's a great idea on the part of the organisers of the Solo Maître CoQ to offer us the chance to play on the big race. It will allow us to review basic patterns and share good times with others, without the sea spray. However, we know that we'll have a hard time with the very specialized players who are looking for and finding polar and routing algorithms, but as far as I'm concerned, I'm going to participate above all for the fun of it"
