This will be your 3 e after the last two editions of the Vendée Globe, is your goal to win? You don't feel too much pressure to be the favorite and to be expected to win?
The goal is to win, it would be difficult to have a different goal after what happened four years ago. I came second, behind François Gabart, by a few hours. With a new hydrofoil boat, sponsorship and an efficient team, I can't set off on this Vendée Globe saying to myself that I'm going to finish fifth e âeuros¦
Now, for sure, that makes me one of the favorites, but not the favorite. There are several of us who have this status. There are boats that are very competitive and skippers who have won transatlantic races in the past two years. But on November 6th, we'll be resetting the counters, we'll all be starting on the same footing, on the same starting line. It's not necessarily the fact that we're favourites or that we've finished twice in the second position that will make us feel more confident e place, which will help me to be better on the race or make my job easier.
The Vendée Globe remains quite unique in its concept: duration, difficult course, no technical stopover� It makes it quite complex! With two Vendée Globe experiences, I am aware that a lot can happen. As a result, I am able to step back from the fact that we have the ambition to win, because it is not that which will make the difference on the water.
You are starting with a new boat, equipped with foils. How did you prepare? Do you have full confidence in your boat?
I hardly have any confidence in the boat. We launched her a year and a half ago, in June 2015. I wanted to sail her as much as possible to test her and make her more reliable. We could have stayed in the yard for months or waited until the last moment to benefit from the latest technologies and have the best performing boat on paper. But in reality, it's better to test it to see if something breaks or doesn't work as planned. It takes time. Armel Le Cléac'h presents his IMOCA Banque Populaire VII : Read the article .
So for me, sailing is the best way to be successful. We have more or less respected the program we set ourselves, with two transatlantic races, the Jacques Vabre and the Transatlantique, which went rather well. We also did a return trip from New York. I wanted to race it on the New York to Vendée, but unfortunately I had to abandon the race: I had hit a big fish. We had to repair and come back with a reduced crew, but it was also rewarding.
Today, we have accumulated a little over 20,000 miles, which is quite positive. It allows us to get a lot of feedback and to improve a lot of little things on the boat. Last year, on the Jacques Vabre, we could see that the foils had caused a lot of structural problems. We finished the race, but we saw that other boats equipped with foils had more or less serious problems. This allowed us to make a good improvement and optimization this winter to make the boat stronger.
Technically, I have confidence in the boat. We wanted it with the whole team. Banque Populaire VIII was born from our experience. For the last Vendée Globe, I got the boat back two years before the start. But she was not necessarily as optimized as this year. For this 8th e we built a boat from scratch, equipped with foils, with the experience of my two previous Vendée Globe races, but also with the team that was already in place. This is the boat we wanted and I think it is also the most accomplished of my three Vendée Globe races. I'm setting off on a boat that I trust and that best matches the way I plan to sail the Vendée Globe course, with the cumulative experience of the races and in particular of these two round the world voyages.
With your compulsory presence in the Vendée Globe Village, do you still have time to train or are you more concerned with media obligations?
We have stopped sailing, and we will not go out to sea again before departure. Everything is on board and the boat is ready to go. We have sailed enough, with the races and the trainings. We were at sea last week, we had a last training session in Port-La-Forêt 10 days ago�
It's true that the media and sponsors are quite important in Les Sables-d'Olonne. We have a busy first week until Friday. I'm pretty focused on that right now. I'm also going to take some time for myself, to rest, because training takes a lot of time. The beginning of October was quite intense physically on the water and on land.
Next week, I'm going to take a week off at home, to enjoy my family and the kids. I'm also going to do a bit of physical recovery, go swimming in the pool, do some stretchingâeuros¦ We've been preparing for this Vendée for almost two years and it's not in two days that we're going to change physically and modify the boat. The die is cast, everyone has made their choices, everyone is more or less physically fit. This is not the time to make mistakes, to break the boat while sailing, or to get injured on too intense physical trainings.
The program is more about recovery, a little bit of sport - without doing anything - and especially focusing on the last week. There, we will work on the weather and manage the pressure and the challenge of the start. Two rather intense points, with a lot of emotions. The exit from the channel as well as the start on the water is always a bit complicated with 29 boats on the start line. It is not often that we make a start in IMOCA with 29 boats, with skippers who know more or less how to control their boats. You also have to deal with all the other boats: zodiacs, spectatorsâ?¦ You have to be careful.
How do you deal with being away from your family for about 3 months?
We have a satellite phone on board, which doesn't always work very well, but we try to call each other twice a week. Especially at Christmas time or birthdays, which are special days. I know that at Christmas I will make a small live video, not very long, but which makes it possible to physically see the faces.
Above all what is important is to prepare before leaving, to explain things, the routeâeuros¦ This is what I have been doing for several months. The children (Editor's note: Louise 9 years old and Edgar 6 years old) have grown up and I can explain to them what I will do. It is important and it is also part of the overall preparation. It is for me as important as setting the foils or having good sails. On land, the family must also feel concerned, prepared, because it is part of the mental management before the start, but also during the race.
What is your biggest apprehension about this world tour?
The biggest apprehension for me is hitting a UFO. That the race stops because of that. It's not something you can control, but you know it can happen, unfortunately. That's what happened to Vincent Riou four years ago and it's the worst case scenario. If I gave up because of another technical problem, that's part of the game. It means that either we didn't work properly to prevent it from happening, or I did something wrong with the boat.
We are often asked if we are afraid at sea. I am not necessarily afraid, there is stress, but fear, you can have it on what happens to other competitors. I experienced it 8 years ago when Yann Eliès, who is a very good friend, was injured. We do not know what happens and how it will end. I was also at the rescue of Jean Le Cam, with Vincent Riou, because we were rushed. When you arrive in the area and you see the boat upside down, you don't know if the guy on board is dead, is dying or if he's going to make itâ?¦ There is inevitably some apprehension, some fear. It's not something you plan for, it's exceptionalâeuros¦ You don't leave thinking about it every day, otherwise you don't live, but you know it can happen and it can be complicated.
Are you in contact with each other?
I don't necessarily call the other competitors, but it can happen that we find ourselves quite close to each other. Eight years ago with Vincent Riou, we called each other two or three times in the southern seas and then again when Jean Le Cam had an accident. It depends on the situation on the water.
There are also more affinities with certain competitors. I don't know all of them, but it's true that with some of them, in case of problems, we send each other emails. If we know someone who is dropping out, we also try to check in and send a message to say we are thinking of him.
Do you bring an unusual object and what is it?
Today I don't know, but there will be things on board. These are surprises that my wife and children give me before leaving. I will probably have a little mascot, I have a different one for each race. This year, there will probably be a gri-gri, a lucky charm on board, but I don't know what. One of them has already told me at home, the smallest one (6 years old), but I pretended not to hear.
My team also gives me little surprises. Four years ago, every week I had scratch-off games. I didn't win much, but it was nice to have the surprise!
Do you get the blues and what do you take with you to cheer you up for the Vendée Globe?
Of course there are some blues! I take a lot of podcasts of radio shows, there is a little bit of everything and especially variety shows. It can be Nicolas Canteloup or Grosses têtes and it allows you to take a step back, to laugh, to listen to things that can cheer you up. If it is really complicated, we have pictures of the children on board, we can call home�
How many food days do you plan to have? Do you bring anything specific that you love?
I plan on 85 days of food even though I put in 78 days 4 years ago. We plan a little more, because we never know what will happen. No particular things even if I know that there will be small improved things or euro surprises for example foie gras for Christmas and New Year's day or small candies that I discover in the bags. Today I know exactly what is in the daily rations and it is quite classic.
Do you have time to relax and how do you spend it?
We try anyway âeuros because it is a marathon âeuros to find some moments to cut with the race, especially with the meals. We also try to find a moment to relax a little, put on some music, listen to some podcasts, air our brains a littleâ?¦ These are moments where we try to forget about the performance, even if the boat is well tuned anyway. You try not to think about the race, the ranking, the weather, for half an hour, an hour. It is not necessarily every day, but when the conditions are good, we cut a little with the race.
Do you get seasick and how do you manage it?
No, I don't get seasick. I was often sick as a child, my parents had a cruise ship and I remember being sick at sea. But since then it's passed. It can happen that I get a little soggy the first night if the weather conditions are a bit rough. I don't eat much in these cases and it's enough to re-arm a little.
