Eric Bellion welcomed us aboard his new boat, the schooner Ahoy-C Comme un seul homme, a few months before his entry into the 2018 Route du Rhum. With more than 40 T of displacement, 21 metres overall length and a classic rig, the steel and varnished wood sailboat will stand out from the other competitors on the starting line in Saint-Malo.
To begin, can you tell us the story of this sailboat with which you are embarking on the Route du Rhum 2018?
It can be said that it has had little history, even if it is original. The boat was built in Holland in a shipyard created for the occasion, V&O Yachting. The owner, a Dutch contractor, had seen a similar schooner in the West Indies and thought, "I want the same one". When one of his employees had difficulties following a car accident, he offered to supervise the construction site. This lasted from 1998 to 2006. He then became the skipper. The sailboat has sailed very little since then. We bought it in the inland sea in the Netherlands, in very good condition. I don't even know if he had already taken a reef! The engine and generator had only been running for 600 hours in 12 years.
Ahoy Square
Ahoy Square
Cooking
The only sailboat on the Route du Rhum with gold taps!
Why did you choose such a boat for a solo transatlantic race?
I wanted to start with the Route du Rhum to launch our new adventure with the association Comme Un Seul Homme after the Vendée Globe. It will continue with a multi-year world tour to promote difference. To stand out from the crowd in terms of communication, there are two solutions: the Ultim, reserved for very high level riders with a very big budget or an original boat as do Loïck Peyron and his trimaran Happy or Bob Escoffier on Kriter V. We chose the second solution. With Ahoy, we talk to the imagination and emphasize the importance of beauty that must be accessible to all.
Eric Bellion on the boom of the staysail
What modifications are planned on the boat?
There wasn't much to change to be able to sail alone. We are working on two new sails and have made the equipment more reliable, particularly the rigging for the Route du Rhum and the rest of the course. The boat does not return after the transatlantic crossing. We have adapted the equipment to the safety standards of offshore racing. Finally, and this is an interesting challenge, we are working on energy autonomy, while respecting the aesthetics of the boat. On this kind of luxury boat, the generator runs all the time. There, we will install retractable wind turbines in particular.
A map table very different from the IMOCA
Navigation is very pleasant. There is less stress than on an IMOCA because you go slower. If the objective remains the race, we must rethink the notion of performance. My interest is to see if I can relive the same thing as in the Vendée Globe, on a slower boat.
