The skippers of Le HUB by OC Sport had their first taste of competitive single-handed racing in the new Figaro Bénéteau 3 at the Solo Maître Coq last week, with all three skippers finishing in the top 15.
Benjamin Schwartz, racing Action Contre La Faim, finished an impressive fourth place overall, with Yoann Richomme, skipper of Le HUB by OC Sport finishing in eighth, and Fabien Delahaye (Loubsol) in 15th against a 47-strong fleet.
Richomme, racing in the colours of OC Sport’s new international base for offshore sailing, ‘Le HUB by OC Sport’, only officially took control of his new foiling boat two week's before the event. He comes away from the Solo Maître Coq armed not only with an impressive position, but also with a number of valuable lessons which he will take forward to next month’s Solitaire URGO Le Figaro.
He finished seventh in the final 380-nautical mile offshore race, which lasted a little over two days, despite battling a rope which was wrapped round his keel.
“My first part of the race was good, I was well ahead of the fleet,” Richomme explained. “However, approaching Belle-Ile and when managing the wind transition, I was a too close to the coast and the closest group left me behind.
“After that, in the early afternoon on Friday when trying to clean my keel, I got a rope wrapped round it. Ideally in these conditions I would have dived but I’m not very fond of that, so I did not do it and I just cut it short.
“So I had to managed this over 24 hours! I thought I would be dropped by everyone but in the end it was ok. I did a lot of manoeuvres, tests all the way and I also tried pilot, especially under spinnaker.
“In these conditions and with everything that happened, I am very happy with my place at the end,” he concluded.
The Solitaire URGO Le Figaro, which is owned and organised by OC Sport’s French subsidiary OC Sport Penduick, starts from the French city of Nante on June 2nd when 2,130 nautical miles of offshore racing across four legs await the skippers. Recognised as the unofficial world championship of solo offshore racing, the event is the pinnacle event in the French Offshore Championship.
Solo Maître Coq Final top ten
1. Group SNEF, Xavier Macaire, 40 points
2. Queguiner, Tanguy Le Turquais, 42
3. Avec Vous Sur La Solitaire, Morgan Lagraviere , 42.5
4. Action Contre La Faim, Benjamin Schwartz, 50
5. Banque Populaire, Armel Le Cleac’h, 62.5
6. 57, Adrien Hardy, 72.5
7. Skipper Macif 2017, Martin Le Pape, 85
8. Le HUB by OC Sport, Yoann Richomme, 85
9. Teamwork, Justine Mettraux, 87
10. Skipper Macif 2019, Pierre Quiroga, 88.5
