Sébastien Destremau has just completed his Vendée Globe and the 8th edition of Everest des Mers. He crossed the finish line in Les Sables d'Olonne on Saturday 11th March 2017 at 1 hour, 40 minutes and 18 seconds. He thus takes 18th place in the ranking, after 124 days, 12 hours, 38 minutes, 18 seconds at an average speed of 8.2 knots. She is returning to the Vendée 50 days after the big winner of this edition, Armel le Cléac'h, who arrived on 19th January.
Séabstien Destremau isn't really a seraglio since he is a Flying Dutchman (Olympic support). He then took part in several crewed ocean races such as the Volvo Ocean Race and Sydney -Hobart. He then became a consultant and created a video magazine covering regatta news and virtual sailing.
In 2015, in South Africa, he bought the Imoca60 faceOcean built in 1998, which has already had two Vendée Globe races with Josh Hall (9th in 2000-2001) then Steve White (8th in 2008-2009). After a delivery trip from Cape Town to his base in Toulon, Sébastien Destremau qualified with his boat for the round the world race in the Calero Solo Transat in April 2016, between Lanzarote and Newport.
Very quickly, the engine starter will fail the skipper of TechnoFirst-faceOcean. Whilst he is sailing at the rear of the fleet, without any pressure as his goal is only to finish his course, this essential element is letting him down in the third week of the race. Thanks to the D-system, like Desjoyeaux, who will give him the solution to tinker with a replacement system, with one end rolled up and with the help of a sail, Sébastien can finally use his engine, which is essential for filling the ballast tanks.
Having been racing for a month and approaching the first of the three capes, Bonne Espérance, the sailor from Toulon is joined by Didac Costa (OnePlanet- OneOcean), who set off four days late from Les Sables-d'Olonne following electronics problems. " It's comforting to attack this first zone of the Deep South with Didac right next door ... We can watch each other and intervene if necessary because we'll have 35 knots until the end of the week ... Or let's say we'll try to stay in an area where there won't be more." But the Spanish candidate passes him.
As he entered the Indian Ocean, it was Romain Attanasio (Famille Mary - Etamine du Lys) who, after a two-day stopover to repair his rudders, joined Sébastien for a duo sailing to Leeuwin, the second cape of the Vendée Globe. At the end of December, Pieter Heerema (No Way Back), who had slowed down while heading north to avoid a storm, found the tandem, which was closing the gap off the Australian coast. Since the start, Sébastien has been sending out a video every day, which shows his amazement at how tough the race has been: "I'm very happy to have been able to take part in this race I find it hard to believe that we're still standing...I find it hard to believe, but it's the truth. We're normal guys who do inhumane things..."
Before crossing the Pacific, Sébastien decided to stop at anchor in Tasmania on 3rd January, in order to fully check the state of his boat. When he resumed his race three days later, he was 1,000 miles behind Pieter Heerema and his No Way Back. From then on, TechnoFirst-faceOcean was sailing isolated from the rest of the fleet, in 18th and last position, but the skipper was reassured about the state of his boat, which he was leading carefully under J3 with 2 reefs in the mainsail. "I've never regretted reducing the canvas, never... Of course we're going a little slower, but we'll probably go much further." he said on the radio session.
On 29th January when Destremau crossed the Horn, the third and final cape, the first six competitors in this 2016-2017 edition of the Vendée Globe were already at the finish pontoon and the seventh Louis Burton (Bureau Vallée) was in the Azores. Pieter Heerema (No Way Back) is 1200 miles ahead of him off Argentina and Sébastien admits to a mixture of feelings as he passes the big rock, which announces the climb back up the Atlantic and the final quarter of the adventure I liked the South Seas, I leave them with regret because I was there with the albatrosses as my only company. I think of Moitessier and I understand him, I feel that questioning."
But he obviously doesn't intend to travel the oceans indefinitely, since he makes a key - with the help of a hanger - to symbolically close the door behind him! In fact, this is the opportunity to write a mini screenplay for this video champion who likes to film himself daily, sharing comments, sometimes DIY tutorials, often favorites but also shouting. The scenes always start with "Welcome to the office!" and often end with a "See you tomorrow at 8:00."
The climb back up the Atlantic is far from being a piece of cake, even if a second planned stopover in Fernando de Noronha, off Brazil, due to water ingress into the boat is finally cancelled, as the skipper has managed to resolve this umpteenth problem. It was hunger, however, which really perturbed the skipper of TechnoFirst-faceOcean during the last two weeks of his voyage. Indeed, when he runs out of food, he is rationing himself with one meal a day and it's not his unsuccessful attempts at trolling while sailing in the Azores High which are enabling him to fill his stomach! Sébastien is taking advantage of his free time to polish up the lyrics of a song dedicated to his Vendée Globe, accompanied by a video clip of course. Excerpts : "All winners are those who were able to finish..." or again: "It takes a grain to be a sailor..."
