Jean-Pierre Nicol: fronting the Solitaire du Figaro!

Arriving in Dieppe in 38^th position, 57 minutes and 50 seconds astern of the winner Jérémie Beyou, Jean-Pierre Nicol struggled to conceal his disappointment. A perfectly normal reaction for the skipper of Bernard Controls, whom we know by now to be a racer through and through with a resolute temperament. However, beyond today’s result, which is in no way a true reflection of his talent, this fifth participation has resulted in the Breton sailor taking a creditable 15^th place in the final overall ranking, 2 hours 31 minutes and 21 seconds after the winner. Furthermore, he figured at the front of the fleet in every one of the four legs, the first of which saw him take third place on the podium. This latest performance takes him up into the category of the major players and one of tomorrow’s winners!

When setting out from Les Sables d’Olonne on Sunday, Jean-Pierre Nicol was in battle mode, determined to thwart the numerous pitfalls dotted about the course on the way to Dieppe, starting with a stormy low, which was going to prove decisive. The victim of a collision with two other competitors at the outset, the skipper of Bernard Controls saw his usual happy entrance centre stage somewhat impeded: “At the start, at the leeward mark, I was manœuvring and dumped the spinnaker a bit late. I switched the automatic pilot the wrong way and rubbed up against two other competitors. There wasn’t any major damage, aside from the fact that I found myself at the back of the fleet”.

“I saw the race getting away from me”

Fully geared up to stay in the game for this last leg, Jean-Pierre showed real inspiration as he hunted down a great tactical coup along Île d’Yeu, the upshot of which saw him in a much better position: “After the option at Île d’Yeu I moved right back up into the action. Things panned out just perfectly until Penmarch. It was the ideal scenario; I was up with the leaders, in front even”. Sporting the yellow jersey as the fleet rounded Eckmühl lighthouse, the skipper of Bernard Controls once again showed that he was a force to be reckoned with, someone sure of their choice. “However, on the flipside of all that, I’d had to dig deep into my energy reserves to get into that position and there came a time when I felt very weak in the tack changing battle at the north-west tip of Brittany. I had no other choice than to carry on. I didn’t go and get some sleep. I was battling with myself. After the Breton headland, I managed to have a quick snooze and on waking, I felt like I hadn’t recovered at all. All of sudden, I was attacking the stormy low with a mindset that wasn’t very conquering. I had a plan in my head which involved passing through the axis of the weather phenomenon and shifting across to the East. However, I didn’t notice that in doing that, I was heading for an area with little wind and I got stuck there. It all happened quickly and once I was in it, the damage had been done. After that, I did manage to get into a zone with wind but by then I was poorly positioned in relation to the others. It was very hard mentally. I’d seen myself with the perfect plan and when I saw those I’d been battling with getting away from me, my dream just crumbled. For the last 24 hours I saw the race just getting away from me…”

Drawing out the positive

Worn out and obviously disappointed at taking 38^th place today, Jean-Pierre Nicol had hoped to round things off in Dieppe in a better position. 9^th in the provisional overall ranking on setting out from the Vendée, he finishes this Solitaire du Figaro in 15^th position. Such a result certainly doesn’t overshadow the fact that the skipper of Bernard Controls was one of the major protagonists from beginning to end in this edition: sticking to his guns once the decisions were made, battling intelligently and demonstrating a very fine vision of the race. 3^rd in Caen, 13^th in Ireland and 19^th in Les Sables d’Olonne, the sailor from La Trinité sur Mer has nothing to regret about these past three weeks of racing: “I sailed three and a half good legs and ultimately it was my body that couldn’t take the heat! I’ve finished 15^th overall though, which means that I have to have done some things better than in previous years. There are some positive things to draw from all this”.

Out of five participations, Jean-Pierre Nicol has scored his best result so far at the helm of Bernard Controls… and though his adventure with the Solitaire du Figaro has only just begun, the prospects for the future are certainly positive, with a winning edition on the cards very soon!