What motivated you to start?
I sailed in regattas and cruises. When I discovered the Mini it combined both: the pleasure of being at sea for several days and the regatta side. It's different from going back to port every day.
It was my partner who introduced me to the Mini. I did a Transgascogne with him in 2011 and 6 months later I bought my Mini. I wanted to rediscover the atmosphere of the class, the atmosphere of the pontoons. As we're single-handed, it's much easier to get to the others. We're experiencing a bit of the same stories, the same difficulties during the race. There's a sort of closeness which is created and which isn't created as much in crew races. After that, I've never done an offshore crew race. I liked the atmosphere, I liked the support, which is great fun and of course being at sea, in a race.
Did you find in this class what you came for?
Yes, completely. And above all it's diverse, there's all kinds of profiles. Future pros or people like me who are more for adventure, different budgets, different jobs. That's really what I was looking for. I hadn't set out with the idea: I'm going to do the Mini-Transat. I wanted to touch this boat, to test it. The Mini-Transat wasn't a goal in itself from the start. I went very gradually. First of all: was I going to like solo sailing? You can never be sure. At first I just wanted to try it. Then I realised that there were all kinds of people doing it, so why not me.
So I went for it, did one, then two doubles races the first year. Then I had a knee problem, I qualified, I had a little boy. It was a period of time that was interspersed with other events. Last year I sailed and I realised I was coming to the end of the project, but I didn't want to end it like that. Deep down I wanted to see it through to the end.
So this deckchair will mark the end of your Mini journey?
Yeah, I'd like to sell the boat. It's been 5 years, it's a great boat, but I want to sell it. My husband has a Figaro, so I'm going back sailing with him for a while. But I'm going to put myself on stand-by a bit because it's been a bit of a sporting year. Then we'll see. I've allowed myself this adventure, it's been a lot of financial concessions, time concessions and family concessions. The boat is not going to disappear from my life, neither are the races, but it's not a professional goal for me.
Tell us about the good times and the not-so-good times you've had on board?
The worst and the best moment was during the qualifiers. The best moment was off Marseille, a sunset - or a sunrise, I don't know... - pink and purple with mini blue jellyfish. There was a field full of them with the sky all pink. I was just fine... a magical moment.
There were several difficult moments, but the worst was always during qualifying. I knew there was a round coming, I had to stop. There was a force 9 coming. In qualifying, we are not in the race, we are alone. It was too violent for my crossing from Sardinia to Naples. I'd just spent a night in difficult seas over Sardinia, there wasn't too much wind, it was going to start again in 12 hours, but it was too strong. I had to stop at the port, it depressed me. There was still half of the qualifying course to go. I thought, "What the hell are you doing here?". A big bad moment.
Why did you choose this boat?
Pogo 2? Because it's an easy, versatile boat. And this one because I liked it. I loved its name [Mini Doudou NDLR], it was well maintained, it hadn't been used too much even if it had already been in a deckchair.
Did you customize it?
Just the interior design. Even if it's not an optimization. Compared to the others, however, I'm much cozier. I don't have a jetboil, I have the standard Pogo 2 kitchen. It's more for the comfort side. Then I have a fuel cell, but I work mainly with solar panels. I have 100 watts on the transom and 2 x 50 watts that I move outside. When there's sunlight, that's the only thing that works. It works really well. The battery is just in case. I took the liberty of taking it because I had a sponsor, but basically I didn't have one.
For the fittings I'm equipped Karver. It's a little different. The boat was Karver-equipped, so I called them to see if they'd be willing to partner. I liked their gear, they agreed, so we made this partnership. There's not a lot of boats that are Karver-equipped.
How's your life on board?
I'm in there a lot. I have a lot of rest phases, but I often wake up to see my sails and the situation.
I put a rhythm to myself on the roof wall. I hope to be able to respect it: enter the point in the logbook; a little hygiene; a little equipment check; snacks ..
What's the schedule for the last few hours before departure?
Welcome the people who came to visit the boat. It's in vernissage mode. The family coming, marking little words. Tomorrow rise and mental preparation. I have a little boy, so it'll be 8:00 a.m., no choice. 11:30, we have to be here, it's gonna be fast.
The boat's ready, I feel like leaving. I stopped working since July, I've been preparing this for so long that I'm ready. I can't wait to leave, the conditions are going to be fine, there's just a bit of wind coming in from Finistère.
