Everyone loves a winner. Especially one who overcomes adversity repeatedly, only to triumph over one of the world’s greatest competition. Repeatedly. That man is Yann Elies.
Firmly cementing his position as one of the biggest bad asses to inhabit Planet Earth, the 39-year-old French sailor became the first sailor in nearly four decades to win the Solitaire du Figaro two years in a row when he crossed the finish line Saturday night at Dieppe, France.
In a script that couldn’t even be imagined by the most creative Hollywood screenplay writer, Elies has gone back to back, despite breaking his headstay (!) during Leg 3. Sailing in a fleet of 40 identical Beneteau Figaro IIs, Elies posted an impressive scorecard of 1-5-21-2 to claim overall victory by 26m, 30s after more than 10 days and 1,938 miles of intense solo ocean racing all over western Europe.
In heavy downwind and reaching conditions of more than 30 knots of breeze, Elies charged through the fleet while then-leader Morgan Lagraviere slipped after staying inshore both before and after The Lizard, and sailing in lighter winds. With the nuking breeze, some sailors chose to set spinnakers while many did not, creating a huge 50-mile spread amongst the fleet.
In addition to Yann’s inspiring triumph, some serious credit has to be given to the strong English contingent that also wrote their names into Figaro history this year. Sam Goodchild, a 23-year-old English solo sailing phenom, became the highest placing British sailor in 38 years, claiming a solid 11th place finish, while fellow Englishman Jack Bouttell, 22, became the first English sailor to ever claim the Bizuth prize for top rookie finisher, coming in 21st.
Elies’ accomplishment comes just four years after shattering his femur in the Southern Ocean during the 2008-09 Vendée Globe and becoming the subject of an international headline-grabbing rescue by the Australian Navy just five days before Christmas. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find a sponsor to come back for the 2012 Vendée. Let’s hope this back-to-back Figaro triumph helps him secure a sponsor for 2016!
Marin County’s Paul Cayard, CEO of Artemis Racing, shared some interesting opinions on the 34th America’s Cup with Tom FitzGerald in last Friday’s SF Chronicle.
