A tough winter
I know when you post online, it’s supposed to be positive, something like a big campaign announcement and to be truthful I wanted to keep everything that happened this winter a secret. So apologies in advance, hopefully this won’t be too negative and will give a little up date as to my La Solitaire du Figaro project in 2024.
In November 2023, I set myself the target to be ambitious with my sailing, I’d rather try and fail than not try at all (insert some motivational background music and que the quote “aim for the moon and even if you miss, you’ll still end up with the stars”).
The first part of this, is to perform at a high level at the La Solitaire du Figaro.
For those who know me well (and have had to tolerate my love for it) this race has been a big part of my life since 2019 when I first set myself the aim to make the start line (only took 3 years of work).
That was followed by the objective in 2021 to finish this incredible challenge (also 3 years in the making).
The aim I set in November was to perform at a high level, to prepare to a high level, sail fast, sail smart with a high level of strategic and meteorological understanding, and be in a good headspace (Concentrating on the process of doing a good race). I felt was and this an achievable aim based on the good foundation in the world of offshore racing I have built over serval years.
2021: The realization of years of work and childhood dream (Massive thank you Just a Drop allowing me to carry your message and to the team at Ocean Leisure for believing in me)
The first hurdle
To achieve the above, I realized that I need to get all the basics right, and by basics, I mean looking at the most fundamental part, the business model. How can I do it smarter, how to structure the project better and what would help in terms of HR. My theory is (I know it’s a cliché) if I always do the same thing, I’ll always get the same result. I brainstormed many options and their respective pros/cons, devised some routes to take some more stupid than others. I settled on a new model at the start of December and by Christmas talks were progressing well, so I had hope.
I set myself an ambitious goal in terms of budget (for the past 3 years I have had the smallest budget in the race). I had a number carefully worked out, what I thought was accessible to someone like me while allowing myself the ability to afford some of the luxury go faster things I had seen but not so great that businesses would laugh me out of their offices. I promised myself that I wouldn’t do La Solitaire unless I had that number because, I knew deep down it would be a frustrating experience being beaten by those with more resources.
The schedule
The next part of my master plan was that I need to have everything organized and plan settled on by February 1st. In truth La Solitaire du Figaro isn’t really a sailing race, it’s more of a time management exercise. Most of my weaknesses in terms of performance on the water can be attributed to either poor time management or not enough time. The solution? Give myself more time, time to iron out the weakness and build on the strengths. Therefore 1st of February was the date I settled on, allowing me enough time to have an intense training block, fit in a full schedule of activation events and allow time for things to go wrong.
On February 1st the only announcement being made was that the UK economy had gone into recession.
Where I hoped I’d be on February 1st.
What’s the weather doing David?
We’ll it’s not been all bad news, the first 2 races of the championship season for the French Elite Offshore Championship (the formal name of the circuit most refer to as “Figaro’s”) has started and luckily, I did get to be involved doing weather forecasting and routing for some of the skippers. This gave me the opportunity to concentrate on one of my key areas of work this winter, my meteorological understanding, and preparation to take it to the next level!
I am very excited to do lots more of this in 2024!
A half-hearted 2024?
At the beginning of March, I asked myself a question if my aim is truly to do La Solitaire better, do I really need to rush it? After all it’s an annual race! Would I rather take my time to create something special or look back on a campaign and project half-baked and with lots of corners cut? Sure, it’s going to be tough watching as a spectator this year and I’ve stopped looking at social media because seeing pictures of everyone training is horrible. I keep telling myself it will be worth it in the long run.
Pictorial proof (Spot the GBR next to Guyot) of me fighting the best of the best, to remind myself of why.
What’s next?
So now I’m going to back to basics, the very basics of this project being; business formation, accountancy, and communication (there’s not much sailing in this “sailing race”).
If I can have a business that runs smoother and doesn’t require a terrifying number of late nights. Part of the big difficulty has is the fees to change currencies. Devise a communication strategy that creates high quality content, that brings to life tall tales from the high seas and is true to who I am, someone naturally very shy.
It’s going to be a fair amount of office time; I’ll be honest, as someone who likes being outside this doesn’t fill me with joy.
· Will I be on the start line this year? Well in all honesty probably not.
· Have I given up? No
· Will come back in a stronger place that will allow me to have a better mindset and perform at a level I know I can? YES
Who knows, maybe I’ll run a marathon this year, to get my fix of endurance sport.
Grimacing through a painful realization
I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has believed in me, helped me, and given me opportunities to learn, for a kid from West London this is still pinch me stuff!
P.S, any opportunity to sail and race is much appreciated, in exchange I can share a few of the tips and tricks that the oh so brutal La Solitaire du Figaro has taught me!