What's the emotion you're feeling right now?
I'm still in the emotion of the finish, torn between two emotions: tears and great joy! It's very strong! It's incredible to win the Vendée Globe! I haven't been so lucky in the last two editions. They were some fine second places, but as they say, only victory is beautiful!
I fully appreciate how lucky I am to have won this Vendée Globe, with a whole team and a sponsor. We've given ourselves the means. That was clearly the stated goal and I'm very happy to be able to achieve that today. There's no doubt that the emotion is there because it was far from simple!
Did Alex Thomson push you back into your corner? Did you push each other?
I'm sure Alex pushed me all the way to the finish line, up to a few hours before we arrived. It's been complicated, almost from the beginning. It's been an intense fight The descent down the Atlantic was very fast. Alex showed his speed potential at one point. He was able to make the difference. You had to hold on to that train that he was on. That hell of a train he was leading.
Then there were the South Seas where I did well with the experience and performance of the boat, which I mastered well. It paid off! We did well with a two-day lead at Cape Horn. I thought I'd scored a small advantage, but unfortunately, behind me, the weather in the South and North Atlantic wasn't favourable with me. Alex took 600 miles back from me with the high pressure.
After that I had the Doldrums again, the transition zone in the Canaries and again the weather at the end of the race with a big Fastnet style lap... We climbed so high that I wondered if we weren't going to see the icebergs!
Alex seized his chance, he gave his all to take advantage of these weather opportunities and come back each time closer and closer. It gave me a lot of trouble, a lot of pressure. You had to be mentally strong! That's also why I also let go of my head (Editor's note: he cried when he arrived at the pontoons) because I haven't been under pressure for 24 hours... it's been since Cape Horn and it's been 25 days!
For a moment, you think you're going to be able to take advantage of this lead, of favourable weather to help me dig... but no! Every time I did, I got hit in the head with a club! But I was in front and I'm still in front! I received a lot of messages of support, from friends, family and the team.
With Alex, it was different from what we went through with François four years ago. In the last edition, it was a real duel because we were still less than 30/40 miles apart and we were alternating at the head of the race.
With Alex, the scenario was different, but Alex put a lot of pressure on me. He had his problems and I had mine, but he wouldn't let go! During the race, someone told me.. "Victory will be more beautiful in the difficulty, if you win by also having had that fight and not by having been 800 miles ahead. You'll savor more!" It's not what I wanted, but I think in a few days I'll be okay!
How did you feel about this Vendée Globe?
I've been sailing my way, the way I've learned to sail for years. Managing a 60-foot IMOCA monohull equipped with foils requires a certain amount of high-speed management. I did it with the feeling of being good with the boat, of not making it suffer, of accelerating at the right time, in the transition phases.
I've made some mistakes, particularly with the weather, but I think I've sailed well in some places, particularly at the exit from the Indian Ocean. The Pacific has been a real pleasure in terms of navigation and strategy. That's what fascinates me on the water, this permanent game of chess, along with the weather. You have to find the ideal route and it's all about details, transition phases and those moments were moments of pleasure. There were some great moments! But it's true that the climb back up the Atlantic was more complicated.
One word about your boat, we saw you kissing her... We know it's sold, it's a tear to leave this boat that was made in your image?
It's a great Banque Populaire VII story. It was born out of the last Vendée Globe, four years ago with the disappointment of not finishing far from victory. At the finish, my partner told me "We enjoyed the adventure, we'd like to go back, are you up for it?"
After some time of digestion, I said yes and Banque Populaire VII was born from the experience of a Vendée Globe and a whole team, my "dream team". They built this boat with me, in my own way, but with their experience. It was the best boat I've had at the start of my three Vendée Globe races in terms of achievement, performance and reliability.
It may not have been the fastest at all speeds, but it was very versatile, especially in the transition phases, and that was the most important thing. Banque Populaire VII resembles me in terms of the way I approach the Vendée Globe, with the experience I have had in my last two editions and the experience of a team. At the finish, the boat is looking good.
We've had quite a history: English Transat, Transat Jacques Vabre, Vendée Globe. We've had a lot of great moments together! With this victory at the end, it's the icing on the cake.
The boat is sold and will be skippered by Louis Burton soon. So I wanted to finish this story in the best possible way. It was the best way to thank him. He went all the way, he didn't crack ( NDRL: the boat ) me a little bit every now and then... And he looks like my whole team: complete, efficient, who made me happy on the water. There's a story together from beginning to end.
What technical problems did you encounter?
I remember it very well, I had a telephone appointment, the conditions were perfect, I was about to go to the chart table and I hear a loud noise. And then I see my J1 sail on the ground. The hook holding the sail was broken at the masthead. As a result, I couldn't use this sail from December 13th until the end. It was a sail that works well upwind, so it was a little bit complicated.
Two days later, the team sent me a message to tell me that there was a risk that the other hooks would give up as well. I've been living with a sword of Damocles hanging over my head. In the end it held, thank you, I'm touching wood. It was the most complicated and technically difficult point for us.
The rest was junk. I broke one of the engine's fasteners, watertightness problems, bits that broke... I hit some stuff in the water, but I didn't have any problems because of UFO. Apart from that one problem, the rest was perfect. The boat was perfect in the preparation and in what it did on the water! Without this sailing problem, I might have been faster, but we're not going to do the match again.
What is your assessment of the foils and how did you manage these appendages during the race?
Foils is the success of a bet launched with architects 3 years ago. At first we were sceptical, but then we believed in it. We were the first with Banque Pop' launched the process on IMOCA's by doing studies on a Mini 6.50. A few days before the Transat Jacques Vabre, I remember, there were a lot of questions. They said it was never going to work! In the end, the podium completed by Alex and Jeremy will be made up of foilers. It was the right choice!
On the boat, I didn't put the foil on all the time. Either the conditions were bad, or the boat was going too fast and I thought it was risky for him. You don't always put it on 100% of the time. It's hard to give a figure, but I've used it quite a bit. Especially when I had to put the throttle on.
Where I attacked the most with the foil was when Alex broke the 24-hour record. I was in front of him and I knew he was going faster at that speed, but I didn't want him to take too many miles from me. I was on foils the whole time! I was all over it!
How do you feel physically? Are you more tired than your last two Vendée Globe races?
It's hard to compare. My first one I arrived very tired because I had mismanaged the power on board. I finished the last days of the race without food. I had lost 10 kilos and it was hard physically. Four years ago, it was a disappointment with the results. Physically I was fine, I was good. Tired of a Vendée Globe, but the last few days had been simple.
Today it's different. I've been in Figaro mode for 5/6 days: I can't sleep much even if it doesn't show, but I'm exhausted. Mentally, I've gone far in my resources. I've been violent because I couldn't lose it!
It was the year when I had the best chance of winning the VG: great boat, great preparation, great team. All the lights were green. On the water the pattern was not necessarily as expected, but I hung on, I fought. I won meter by meter! All the way to the end! I didn't want any regrets at the finish, no matter what happened.
When I tacked after the Scillies, I told myself that I was OK, but I stayed in Figaro mode right to the end! The finish makes you start to think. We tell ourselves that we're going to win, but we can't tell ourselves, for fear of bad luck. As long as I couldn't see the South Nouch buoy, I was on it!
Are you apprehensive about going back to shore?
I don't know about that. I just take things as they come. I'm fortunate to be in such good company. I have a great team, people with the skills to make things work with my family, my kids, my wife... It's not going to be easy either! I'm very happy with what's going to happen. It's a pleasure to tell, to exchange. It's a lot of work to get there! It's 10 years of my life revolving around the Vendée Globe. Three VGs in a row, three times right to the end. It takes a lot of commitment and to have won in the end I'm very happy and I'm enjoying it and we're going to do it with pleasure! It's always a pleasure to talk about our adventure, our race, whatever the result!
What do you think about the race bonus?
You don't go sailing where you earn millions of euros like in other sports. There are racing bonuses, which is what they are. We would have liked to have a little more in relation to what's at stake. ¼ or 1/8 of a finalist at Rolland Garros who gets eliminated winning the same thing while he spends 4 times 3 hours there, we make 74 days... It's sure that in relation to the past hour, it's not paid much, but that's how it is!
The multihull race in 2019, are you going to take part?
I'm lucky with Banque Populaire to have a great project going on. We're lucky enough to be able to build a trimaran, an Ultime, which will be launched in the summer of 2017 with a programme planned: Jacques Vabre, Route du Rhum... And this round the world race in 2019, which will be a new challenge. It's a great programme with a sponsor who has always supported us! They have won several great races in a row: Jules Verne, Route du Rhum and now the Vendée Globe.
With François we'll be in the Ultime, but there will also be Thomas Coville and other skippers. That's going to change because I've been sailing IMOCA for 10 years now! What's certain is that I won't be at the start of the next one!
