Lymington Sailor, Nigel King, on schedule for La Solitaire

This summer, Nigel King, from Lymington, will be one of just two British entries in the international fleet of elite solo skippers competing in La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro which starts from Caen, northern France, in July.

Since February this year, Nigel has been training hard at La Pole France Voile Olympic training centre in La Rochelle on the Atlantic coast. He commented: “It took one day at the Paris boat show to convince me that La Rochelle was the right place. Since then the assistance from people within the class and within the industry in France has been second to none.” Nigel has been able to train alongside top Figaro sailors including Gerald Veniard who won was third La Solitaire in 2006. This has given him good benchmarks to work towards. Nigel’s first real competition in his boat “Blue Note” will come with the qualifying races for the big event. The Solo Concarneau is a 250 mile race starting on 5^th May with the Les Sables d’Olonne Solo later that month.

In the meantime, Nigel returned briefly to Open 60 sailing, coaching round the world record breaker Dee Caffari on “Aviva”. He is also signed up to join Dee on the Calais Round Britain Race for Open 60s and the JPMorgan Asset Management Round the Island Race. He also continues training the Volvo RYA Youth Keelboat Programme.

Nigel has secured support from project partners Merriweather Training, Dubarrry of Ireland and USANA Health Sciences. There is no excuse for any lapse in the personal fitness regime as that has been put together by his wife Alison, a professional trainer. Nigel continues his search for a title sponsor for La Solitaire. Full details are available on www.nigelkingyachting.com.