They've been working on it all summer. And now, the trimaran Actual is ready to attack a round-the-world trip against all odds . Three months sailing in hostile seas. " We've been through everything there is to do. There's still a lot of little things to work out, but nothing major. There was a substantial job list, we're getting to the end, on time. The boat is ready." explains Yves le Blevec.
This weekend (14/15 October 2017) the skipper began his stand-by phase for the Round the World Record upside down in trimaran. A record never before attempted in a multihull. He is now waiting for favourable weather conditions to set off on this new challenge. A start which he explains as follows "It's gonna be so fast! It's just going to be a small gap between the time it takes to prepare and the time it takes to sail. On the other hand, it will be a concentrate of emotions, for everyone, that's what makes the start so important: the emotion that will come out of it. For those close to you, the team, the partners... something is going to happen, whether it's sunny or raining! Afterwards, it's going to happen."
" The countdown has been going on for months for the whole team. Weeks and days have gone by and there's going to be a change of state that's going to be important: I'm going to move from the position of general coordinator to that of lead actor. It's going to happen naturally. It's a mixture of feelings between apprehension and excitement... That's the kind of intensity I'm going to be looking for. This rather radical change of state, expected, is going to happen here in the coming days. I know how it's going to happen. I'm already thinking about the first days of sailing, the set-up... I'm preparing as much as I can for that." indicates Yves le Blévec.
In order to prepare himself, the skipper of the red and black trimaran has closely studied each of the stages of his course. With his team, he reviewed all the possible scenarios. With his router and meteorologist, Christian Dumard, he studied the course, phase by phase. All possible weather patterns were considered, in order to be able to find the most suitable strategy. The aim is to anticipate as much as possible so as not to be faced with the unknown.
"It's solo sailing, but by the time I get to the start, there will be 80% of the work that's been done, by the team, a great team, really. I love this paradox: solo and united. Everyone will have put all their energy and expertise into this challenge. It's a collective round-the-world tour." explains Yves le Blévec.
This challenge is a bit of a crazy bet, as Thomas Coville explains, "It's the one thing I wouldn't have tried. It's a huge challenge, he's very very committed, he's technically difficult. You have to be mentally and physically strong. Whether it's the boat, whether it's Yves, whether it's Christian (Dumard, editor's note) or the whole team around him, the maturity of Actual... they can manage to beat this record or make it a real reference time. On the other hand, the number of parameters to solve this equation is just enormous. What Yves is trying to do today reflects his personality. He has to find out where it's anchored in his gut. He's one of those people who wants to build history."
