When Christophe Papillon has an idea in mind, he takes it all the way to the end. This soldier decided to row across the Atlantic. Funny idea that to want to jump like that on the ocean for a crossing of several months ..
You'd think this 50-year-old career soldier would have a nice nautical background by now.. Well no, he just wants to make a nice challenge for himself, but also to support a noble cause. Through his sporting feat, he wishes to make this crossing to honour the memory of his comrades who died on missions, from the units where he had the honour of serving, and more broadly to the soldiers who died for France.
In terms of nautical experience, Christophe has very little. A few experiences of kayak raids, rowing training on closed water, a bit of catamaran sailing in the West Indies and that's it!
For his transatlantic race, Christophe Papillon is going to use a boat which already has 5 crossings on the chart. This one-design has been used for the Rame Guyane races. It measures 8 x 1.60 m and weighs 450 when empty. Built in epoxy plywood, she is currently under construction and is being given a new lease of life.
The crossing is planned to be single-handed, without any assistance, without a race start. Christophe hopes to set off in December 2018 from the Canary Islands to reach Martinique. The navigator expects to take 60 to 70 days if the weather is favourable (the worst crossing took 105 days...) to cover the 5400 km separating the two islands (nearly 3000 miles).
To test himself (and also to highlight his project), Christophe decided to travel from Toulon to Ajaccio at the beginning of summer 2018. A crossing which should take 4 to 5 days to put him in a situation close to real conditions.
In the meantime, Christophe is scouring the country in order to find some sponsors to accompany him in this solidarity project. He has also opened a jackpot to raise funds. Totally voluntary, not seeking to make a profit, he is committed to donating the surplus of the sums granted to him by his sponsors to veterans' associations, which help the families of the soldiers who fell for France.
