The four stage Tour de Bretagne starts this Saturday in Perros-Guirec for Artemis Offshore Academy skippers Sam Goodchild and Nick Cherry. There are 21 double-handed teams entered for the eighth edition of the race, which has four legs around Brittany and one day of inshore racing between the 10th – 16th September.
The Tour de Bretange is an official Class Figaro event and as such attracts first class Beneteau Figaro 2 sailors, many of whom have recently completed the Solitaire du Figaro. A lot of these sailors are locals to the area and have raced around the dangerous and difficult to navigate northern Brittany coastline for years.
Sam Godchild © Lloyd Images
The Figaro fleet will have to race through the rocky passages Ile de Batz, Pointe Saint-Mathieu, Ile de Sein, Ile de Groix and the Belle-Ile keeping all the teams on their toes. The first leg of the race is an overnight 100-mile passage from Perros-Guirec to Brest which starts at 18:00 on the 10th September.
Goodchild will be racing with experienced Figaro sailor Laurent Pellecuer, who finished an impressive 8th this year in the Solitaire du Figaro. “I am looking forward to racing with Laurent as he is an expert Figaro sailor and has done the Solitaire du Figaro 15 times” reports Goodchild. “He has a wealth of solo offshore sailing experience which I am hoping to learn from.” Pellecuer has also competed in the Tour de Bretange in 2009 and 2005 so knows the coastline well and will be able to bring vital local knowledge to the team.
Cherry will be racing with Ed Hill, a newcomer to short-handed racing. “For both of us the Tour de Bretagne will be our first official Figaro race and by all accounts it will be a tough one” explains Cherry. “Going up against 21 other teams, most of whom will know this razor sharp coastline like the back of their hands, we will complete four coastal races around Brittany as well as two days of inshore racing. Our expectations are realistic, we would be happy to be stay in touch with the main group, ensuring as much as anything that we have some locals to follow through the appropriate gaps in the rocks!”
The Tour de Bretagne fleet will include French regulars Nicolas Lunven, Jean-Pierre Nicol and Gildas Mahé, and ‘Rookie’ Morgan Lagraviére who all recently competed in the prestigious Solitaire du Figaro.
The Tour de Bretagne schedule:
Perros-Guirec to Brest, 100-miles (10th September): 18:00 start
Brest to Dourarnenez, 40-miles (12th September): 09:00 start
Douarnenz to Lorient, 80 miles (14th September): 07:30 start
Lorient, inshore racing (15th September): 12:00
Lorient to Piriac-sur-mer (16th September): 09:00 start
Follow the Artemis Offshore Academy teams in the race on Facebook and Twitter.
Track the two Artemis Offshore Academy teams here during the race.
