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In his order, the publisher asked Catherine Chabaud to write a book on the history of the Route du Rhum. Indeed, this race is celebrating its 40th anniversary for the 2018 edition. Who better to tell this story than Catherine? Indeed, this woman shone in the race (first woman to sail around the world non-stop during the 1996-97 Vendée Globe) and above all she led the race in 1998, staying in the lead before breaking away 800 miles from the finish. In addition, this year, Jean-Marie Patier (his companion in life) is leaving to experience this adventure on the "Red Cigar", the famous yawl with which Catherine completed her world tour.
In addition, Catherine Chabaud is a journalist with a pretty pen. The reader was entitled to expect a book that told him the adventures of the various events with anecdotes from the sailors, friends of the sailor. That's precisely not the book we have on our desk today.
Catherine is currently working to "save the ocean". And despite the hyperactivity that we know about this woman, she did not succeed in meeting the challenge of providing pages on time. So it was to another woman, Julie Bourgois, a journalist at Voiles et Voiliers, that she turned to help her write the book. As a result, the book changed direction. The two women met, talked and the "history of the Route du Rhum" was transformed into the "history of Catherine Chabaud". It must be said that this woman who has held the top spot in ocean racing for 15 years has a particularly rich history. And if she has hung up her wax for 15 years, she continues her battle through noble causes (Ocean, common good of humanity). In addition, her companion who is going to experience her dream on the next Route du Rhum makes her find herself on the other side of the fence, but at the very heart of the race.
This woman-to-woman exchange with Julie's pen, so particular and intimate, immerses us in Catherine Chabaud's vision of today's ocean racing. Sometimes going back to the past, often projecting herself into the future, helped by Julie Bourgois, Catherine Chabaud takes us through a long discussion to discover her passion: the sea.
Some passages written by Catherine Chabaud herself fall like a hair in the soup in the middle of the story, we understand that she wants to thank friends who put their foot in the stirrup. These moments cut off the intimacy of the exchange that is created with the reader, offering a disconnected profile of the book.
For the rest, we find ourselves listening to the conversation of the two women as if we were accompanying them throughout the day (and the evening that we understand ending late at night...) of this month of July in Anjou. For my part, that's the pace at which I read the book. Starting in the daytime and only letting go in the evening. Throughout this reading, I was with the two women, following their exchanges with passion.
The book will therefore find its place in the portraits of sailors in our maritime library. But contrary to what the publisher claims, it does not portray a mythical race, but rather that of an exceptional sailor.
Parfums de Rhum - Catherine Chabaud and Julie Bourgois
- Editions Glénat
- 14 x 22.5 cm
- 208 pages
- 15,95 €
If you too are sensitive to the preservation of the sea, do not hesitate to sign the manifesto to save the ocean:
