This will be your second participation in the Vendée Globe, what drives you to set off again?
I'm going back to have the chance to do better than the last time, because it's very difficult to do a non-stop trip around the world. This year ( compared to 2008 and its first participation ), I have a different project [from the first one], with a new boat, 4 years more and a first experience of the Vendée Globe. So I'm approaching it in a more calm manner.
I still asked myself the question of taking risks again, because doing this race is not trivial. I clearly had the desire to start again and I made the right connections at the right time to build a new project.
With the boat I have, my goal is not to win the Vendée Globe, but to finish the round the world race. My first objective is to try to make the best score possible and to go under the 80 days mark and then it is to save a maximum of children (about thirty). My objective is both solidarity and sport.
Is it important for you to associate ocean racing and humanitarian work (support for Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque)?
It's becoming something important and I don't see myself doing the race any other way. I have been racing for them since 2004 and despite my different sponsors, I continue to support them. At the beginning [in 2004], I had decided alone to wear the colors of the association, with a red and white boat, but finally, my sponsors followed me.
I started with the Mini Transat (where we were able to save a child) and today with the Vendée Globe, we have more of the same media exposure. With the arrival of social networks and the use we made of them in 2012, we really managed to turn a corner and make it grow. We were able to save 20 children in the previous edition and now the objective is higher with 30 children.
We try to gather a maximum of people on Facebook and with each new "like", my partners give 1 euro to the association.
But we have also set up parallel operations with piggy banks and solidarity actions in schools, which are added to the Vendée Globe counter. Any viewer can also make a separate donation to the association.
What is the most unusual object you take with you on the Vendée Globe?
I won't bring any unusual object, but little teddy bears with the colors of the association. We launched a big contest to find different outfits and so for each child saved, I will present a teddy bear dressed in one of the many disguises.
Do we have mood swings and how do we get our minds off of things?
Yes ça happens, but in these cases I listen to music, I sleep, I call down eventually. There are different thingsâeuros¦ You can read a little, try to change your mind, take a little breakâeuros¦
How many days do you plan to eat and are you bringing anything special?
I plan to complete my world tour in 80 days, but I'm taking 90 days of food. I'm also bringing Haribos and chocolates, because I'm sponsored by a chocolate company (Alex Olivier) who knows exactly what I like. I also bring honey waffles because I love them!
Do you get seasick and how do you deal with it?
It happens to me at the beginning, but I'll be careful this time, taking medication, so that it doesn't make me tired for the start of the race. But once I'm moored, there are no more worries.
