Benoit Tuduri 1st in Kinsale on the Solitaire du Figaro
With Benoit Tuduri, a young rookie who is little known on the Figaro Bénéteau 3 circuit, arriving first in Kinsale on the 1st leg of the 2023 edition, the Solitaire remains true to its history as a surprise race. The 29-year-old sailor was the first to make landfall in 3 days 19 hours 00 minutes and 25 seconds. Based at the Vendée Formation center, he left the sailing school he co-founded and where he taught in the Mediterranean to join the Figaro circuit under the colors of Capso en Cavale for his first season in 2023. A discreet rookie, the young man had already won the Armen Race in a Figaro this year. However, following a protest from the jury for non-regulation matossage, he was given a 30-minute penalty, which demoted him to 4th place.
The young man gives up first place on the podium to local Irishman Tom Dolan, who is taking part in the Solitaire for the sixth time. He thus wins his first leg of the event, on home soil. The other rookie to be discovered at the finish, third on the line, Julie Simon, an amateur from La Baule, also received a penalty for entering the Fastnet DST, demoting her to 17th place. Nils Palmieri and Robin Marais took 2nd and 3rd place.
Traps and late wind rotation
The fleet had its ups and downs long before the finish jury. Indeed, the favourites were all there at the start. Guillaume Pirouelle quickly took command of the fleet after the start in Caen, building up a small cushion of miles after two successful Channel crossings, from Normandy to the Isle of Wight and back to Jersey. But a locker reshuffled the cards, costing the leaders precious minutes in the process. Still at the front, the battle with the other frontrunners, such as Corentin Horeau, Alexis Loison and Lois Berrehar, continued along the descent to Bréhat, then the ascent to Scilly. It was at this point that the leading group put on their westerly blinkers, looking for a wind shift before heading back up towards the Fastnet lighthouse. A trio of sailors, further behind, opted for the direct route. As the wind shifted to the west, this trio finished on the podium, with the pack conceding just over 30 minutes to the leader at the finish line.
