"We're in the goal of being at the start. The Route du Rhum is November 4th and that's the main objective of the season." explains Armel le Cléac'h. An objective for which the skipper, the team and the sponsor are 200% committed!
Repair the trimaran as soon as possible
After his capsize on April 14, 2018, Armel le Cléac'h finally expresses himself face to face with the camera. An interview conducted by the Banque Populaire Voile team, but which allows us to find out a little more about the ambitions of the sponsor and his skipper. In spite of his capsize, the skipper of the Maxi Banque Populaire IX is not losing sight of his goal: the Route du Rhum 2018. A vision shared by his entire team and his sponsor.
"We organize the after and that's what keeps us going... There's a whole logistics to get the boat back in place and get it back to France as quickly as possible." says Armel the Cleac'h.
So, in Casablanca - the port where the trimaran was towed - we're working hard to return the trimaran (which has been operational since), make an inventory of the repairs to be carried out and organise the repatriation of the boat to Lorient. "As of 3:00 a.m. Saturday morning, we're at 200%. The whole team is mobilized. There are already nine of us in Casablanca and two more coming soon. In Lorient, a team is in charge of bringing the boat back to France, preparing the boatyard and leading the reconstruction of a mast." explains Armel le Cléac'h.
The Route du Rhum is therefore not an aborted project, but the objective of the season. "We want to be at the start, we'll do everything we can to get there. We don't have all the answers, but I'm going to work for it and everybody's going to do everything they can to get there." concludes the skipper.
