What if a dream came true?
Paul Hignard, 18 years old, lives in Saint-Malo and his dream is to participate in the next Route du Rhum the race will start on November 2 in his hometown. Born in a family where sailing is a common passion, participating in this race would make him the youngest participant in the history of sailing.
This ordeal, which he describes as "THE French race par excellence, the most mythical" has bathed his childhood. Nevertheless, it requires big means. He estimated his project at 250,000 euros and that's the problem, how to gather so much money? Without getting discouraged, he undertook to approach sponsors, but also to collect money through a system of crowdfunding (participatory financing) via a web platform.
"I'm like all people my age: hyper active on social networks. I live with my time and from the beginning I wanted the digital aspect to be at the heart of my project, so I had the idea to use crowdfunding to complete it and get the 20,000 euros needed to finalize the boat rental, which costs 110,000 in total. Me and my team were contacted by the company Fosburit, which is also a young company, and which chose to launch into participatory financing for sports purposes. I didn't know its managers at first, so they were the ones who came to me."
Support Paul Hignard in his fundraising efforts
Thanks to crowdfunding, everyone can participate, at a minimum of 1 symbolic euro, in the fundraising organized by the teenager. "You can start by giving 1 euro. We have chosen to offer an autographed photo taken during the race, which I will send from Guadeloupe, in exchange for 20 euros, and the possibility of having one's personal photo within a mosaic on the hull of my boat if one pays 50 euros."
It is already 10 928 euros that he managed to collect through the platform Fosburit. However, he only has seven days left to find the remaining 9,072 euros! If his quest remains unsuccessful, each investor will get back his initial stake. Paul therefore relies on communication and public relations. "Communication is done through social networks, of course, but also through the newspaper. We have reached the first circle, which is friends, the second, friends of friends, but not the third, within which are the people we do not know."
Support Paul Hignard and help him make his dream come true: to participate in the Route du Rhum as the youngest skipper in the history of sailing!
