HISTORY OF THE RACE

In 1970 the first edition of La Solitaire du Figaro took place; it was then called the Aurore race because it was organized by the newspaper of the same name. In 1980, Le Figaro bought the event that now bears his name.

Its founders, Jean-Louis Guillemard and Jean-Michel Barrault wanted to create a solo race with two stages and without assistance open to both the best professionals and amateurs.

Over the years, it has become one of the most prestigious sailing races in France.

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At the start, all types of boats took part.

However, after 1980, racing switched to prototype Half Tonners originally designed for crewed racing.In1991, a new milestone was reached with the arrival of the Figaro BENETEAU I, specially designed by
Jean-Marie Finot for the solo race.In 2003, a new boat, longer and more powerful is chosen, it is the Figaro BENETEAU 2. It will be the support of the race until 2018.

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From 2019, the Figaro BENETEAU 3, the world's first production one-design with foils, succeeded it.

The race, historically, always starts from France with a total course of between 1,500 and 2,000 nautical miles, it offers, depending on the editions, stopovers in foreign countries, in particular in Spain, Ireland and Great Britain. .