In front of a large crowd of spectators gathered on the seawall, the 36 sailors set off from Pornichet for the final leg of La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec 2026. At 7 p.m. sharp, the race began in ideal conditions.

After a coastal race of more than five miles around the Evens islands, and still under the watchful eyes of the crowd gathered on the jetty, Alexis Thomas (Wings of the Ocean) rounded the buoy in first place off the port of Pornichet, thus winning the Paprec Trophy. He finished ahead of Nicolas Lunven (PRB) and Tom Goron (Xplorassur) at the end of this first race in the bay.

Propelled by a westerly wind of around twelve knots, the solo sailors are now heading south towards the BXA safe water mark, anchored off the Gironde estuary. They will then head towards the tip of Brittany.

The sailors will benefit from a relatively gentle first leg downriver before the arrival of a front that will make the route more challenging. This perilous stage is well underway, and even if the skippers want to sail without pressure, it’s a safe bet that, in the back of their minds, they’ll be closely analyzing the AIS tracks of their competitors. After two such intense and difficult stages, their bodies are exhausted. They will have to dig deep to fully commit to this final confrontation and add their name to the list of winners of this 57th edition of La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec