Totally out of step with the other skippers, Eric Bellion welcomes us into the chic saloon of his schooner, comfortably seated in padded chairs. And rather than talking to us about the race to speed, he gives us a "philosophical essay" on the pleasure of performing. Discovery of this timeless moment on the eve of the start of the Route du Rhum.
Tell us why you decided to change boats?
For me it's clear. I experienced something incredible during the Vendée Globe. I experienced a true state of grace only for 31 days. For me the start of the Vendée Globe was particularly difficult and there was a moment when I revealed myself. I felt really good and by being really good, I passed a lot of skippers. I had a great race. That moment, which was really a moment of harmony between the sea, me and my boat, I want to know if I can relive it by going slower; to know if it's just related to the intoxication of speed. It's a thought that interests me a lot. I want to know if I can be so happy, so proud of myself and so successful in decelerating. It's a reflection that interests me because it's something different.
With CommeUnSeulHomme we explore the difference. I am 42 years old and I see that part of my life I spend it with many things that have no use. I have a lot of lark mirrors and I'd like to get rid of them. Maybe we need to rethink our notion of performance and learn to be happy and proud of ourselves without necessarily going faster, further, more expensive.
It is not only to think it, but to explore it, to experience it. First of all I'm going to feel frustrated because my old boat that's competing in the Route du Rhum this year with another skipper is going faster, and I'm going to hit the whole storm and see the second one. It's going to be hard, but I want to see if beyond the frustration there's something interesting.
You say that you found a "state of grace" on your IMOCA during the Vendée Globe. Is it due to a particular event? Was the turn abrupt?
No, it was done in several stages. There were three steps. The first step is to agree to go to the South Seas. I had to face my demons for three days before diving south. I was really scared. Then when I accepted this, I saw that it was going well. But four days later, I broke my rudder and had to replace it in the Indian Ocean. I never thought I'd succeed. Then I realized that I could do incredible things, that I had huge resources inside me. And then in a storm, I had an engine failure and had to let my boat fend for itself without much power in the pilot. I had electricity problems and I discovered that I could have complete confidence in my boat. These three passages made it so that after that I flew on the water. A few days later, I passed Rich Wilson, I dropped him off when he was my example. He wrote to everyone saying, "Be careful, Eric is flying." You see the video on the internet where he's filming me. I went to the other side and it was really a magical moment.
Why did you turn to that new boat?
That's a very good question. Because it is the boat for the continuation of the adventures of CommeUnSeulHomme with Marie Lattanzio with whom I am riding the upcoming adventures. It's an adventure that's necessarily for humans because it deals with differences; so we were looking for a boat that makes you want to go. We needed a boat that was very beautiful because I am convinced that we do beautiful things in beautiful things. Finally, we needed a boat that could go anywhere. It is a dinghy so it can go to many places where there is no bottom and it has a steel hull that can go anywhere.
Can you tell us the story of this boat?
This boat has no history because it didn't do anything. On the other hand, its construction has a history that speaks to me a lot. Jack, who is Peter's employee (former owner of the boat), has a fairly serious car accident. Peter told him that to get back on his feet he would be in charge of the boatyard and then he would be the captain. Jack took 7 years to recover and so it took 7 years to build the boat. I think it's beautiful. After that he was the skipper of the boat. Jack is the only person I've ever met.
Have you ever experienced anything special with the boat?
We got the boat back in June 2018, so it's pretty recent. We did a refit to make the boat even more marine. She is a boat that has only sailed in the Dutch inland sea. We changed the mast rails, we changed the props, backstays, maroquins, we made sails, we changed all the running rigging and then we worked on renewable energy. The goal is for the boat to consume as little fuel as possible. Before, we didn't care about its consumption, whereas for us it's an expedition ship. So we invested in solar panels, wind turbines, leds and things like that.
Did you do anything to adapt it to the solitary?
I haven't done much. I'm the one who's adapting to her. I have more time, I have less knife between my teeth compared to an IMOCA. I brought a lot of things back to the cockpit and that's enough for me. The manoeuvres take more time, but it suits me. I don't have any more time anyway. I've qualified on it and I'm going to do the Route du Rhum so normally it should do it.
Did you bring any tips from your previous life in IMOCA?
Not much, we put a code 0 on hook and constrictor. It's a little wink at ocean racing. But no more than that. She stays in her juice, we're not going to make her lose weight, it's useless. We take it as it is.
How long will it take you to cross over? Are you taking the time?
I don't take the time, it's important to understand it. I'm competing to death so I'm going to fight like a jackal. Finding harmony with this boat cannot be achieved in a fast race time. I'm going to do tactics to death, strategy to death, I'm going to make my sail suits play as much as possible. But I know I'm going half as fast as an IMOCA, so you don't have that stress, you have more time, but I'm going to play the game to death.
Why do the Route du Rhum if it's just to cross the Atlantic? The desire for competition?
You're absolutely right. I want to know if I can perform well by decelerating. I think we have an extremely binary vision of performance. How can you judge performance only by speed? That is not possible. Sport has an exemplary role to play and today, we can no longer judge only performance with speed and productivity. That's not possible, we have to go somewhere else. We can judge performance by the maximum effort given, the means, the harmony found, the messages sent... There are many other ways to be efficient. That's what I'm going to explore. This is what we explore all the time with CommeUnSeulHomme. There is not only one way of thinking, there are many others.
Can you tell us what the Route du Rhum means to you?
I have a few of the same references as everyone else. I am from the times of Bourgnon, Florence Arthaud and Poupon. I have a very special memory of the first transatlantic race I did on a small boat called Kifouine, a rotten 8-metre boat with two friends. On board we had the cards of Philipe Poupon, who had given us his cards from the 1992 Transat, which Florence had already used in the year of her victory. We had his very clean tracks and Florence's. We relived the whole transatlantic race by proxy, in a dream with the positions on the map.
How would you describe the race?
A sprint on the Atlantic, a sprint in the garden!
That e is it going to be difficult for you with a boat like this?
The first difficulty will be the weather. We're going to hit the hard stuff. And every time we go to sea, the difficulty is the start. You feel like there's an elastic bond that holds you to the ground. We have to break it. Going away from the earth is the biggest challenge. Once you're gone, it slips by itself.
Can you introduce us to the boat?
It's a schooner so it's a girl while the IMOCA was a boy and that changes everything.
It's a girl, she weighs 43 tons. She's a pretty grandmother, but she's very lively. It's not a hoof at all, it's a pretty nice plan. At the rear, there is a main mast with the mainsail, at the front the foresail mast with the sail called the foresail and a staysail on boom: it's really practical when you're sailing, it's self-steering. The boat is 21 metres overall, 18 metres of hull and 3 metres of bowsprit. She is the smaller copy of Errol Flynn's Zaka in Dream boat. It's a steel boat, but the whole deck is made of wood. I already have a lot of sails in position, code 0, genoa, staysail, foresail and mainsail. It's really an atypical boat. The key word of CommeUnSeulHomme is to dare to be different, so we are right in the middle of it. It's my dope the difference.
As it is a dinghy, there are two daggerboard well vents. With the waves the air escapes through there. She seems to be breathing. It makes her even more alive.
Inside the schooner, there is a saloon, a living room with a fireplace, a kitchen and beautiful armchairs...
What are you taking on board in food? Are you enjoying yourself?
Look, I have a freezer that's loaded full of ready meals. It'll be an exclusive image, I haven't shown it to anyone!
How will your life on board be organised during the Route du Rhum?
I'll put it in the square. That's where I qualified. I'm fine here, I see everything, I'm close to the helm if necessary, I see my pilot.
We're in something very pretty. I think beauty is a great alternative to speed. When you sail, when you see the boat going into the waves, with all that wood and that bowsprit. I've always liked stories about pirates. The first film I remember is "The Bounty Rebels". I'm in my childhood fantasy.
Can you enjoy beauty?
Of course, even when I was in IMOCA otherwise it's useless. I started to get off on the right foot from the moment I stood back: "What are you doing? But enjoy it." The times when I was the fastest in the Vendée Globe were the times when I had great dreams. When you're tense towards a goal you're not smart; at least that's true for me. The best way to get performance is not to aim for performance. It's about aiming for something higher, it's about harmony. Personally, it's been several adventures, including the Vendée Globe, where I only aim for harmony. Each time I do a result that surprises everyone. Harmony is much more ambitious, more demanding than performance.
