You have Vendée Globe ambitions. This passage in Class40 was a one-shot to reach your goal or are you counting continuer??
Clearly, at the end of my sponsorship with Macif (Editor's note: Yoann Richomme was skipper of Macif 2014) I no longer had a sponsor or a network. It took a year and a half to rebuild everything, to find a project that would lead to the Vendée Globe. The goal of the game was to get back into the game and find a project of my own.
I did 2 Transat Jacques Vabre with Damien Seguin in Class40, so I knew the support quite well. But it was the first time I had done a project in this category.
Today, I don't have any sponsor who can take me to the next Vendée Globe. AIC and Veedol stop. These are big investments for them and it was not destined to last. The timing is also starting to get tight and it is a project I would like to carry out under good conditions. I've made a lot of sacrifices for this project in Class40 and I don't want to get into a Vendée Globe project at any cost.
I have partners who have been motivated by this Route du Rhum. We are in the process of reflecting on and analysing what we could do next. But it is above all a question of budget and not of desire. We'll make a decision in December.
In any case, I would be happy to find a partner who is committed for the duration, even if it means doing one or two years of Class40. My feeling is that I didn't have time to finish the work on the boat. He's not reliable yet, I could have shot him more. So why not embark on a Transat Jacques Vabre in the year prochaine?? The boat was financed by AIC, it belongs to him, but I can either use it, rent it or sell it if I move on.
What is your vision of Class40??
This is the class of access to all these diverse transatlantic races: the Jacques Vabre or the Route du Rhum, which cannot be done in Figaro. It is the first class to integrate to gain experience. The size of the boats remains accessible and manageable, compared to the IMOCA, while being real competition boats. We find real protos (Editor's note: like his, Veedol-AIC) as in Mini or IMOCA, which leaves a field of action between old and new boats, which fight together on the same race, but not with the same objectives. It's a great way to bring partners into the future.
How is the post-Route at Rhum? going?
I work almost all the time to validate things to come. Timings are important. The more sponsors are able to tell me what they are planning quickly, the more successful my project can be. I am studying the various possibilities and I hope to validate this before the awards ceremony at the Nautic show. I really want to retain partners around the upcoming project.
You actively participated in the development of the Figaro Bénéteau 3?? Didn't the arrival of a foiler make you want to go to continuer??
I managed the technical project for the Figaro Class. I was the runners' representative and I participated in everything: the drafting of the specifications, the architects' call for tenders, the implementation of industrialisation, and the tests in navigation, before stopping on the project.
Of course it made me want to do it, but I spent 7 years on the circuit and I know the class requirement to get results. You have to go with means and motivation and I'm not sure I have it. Anyway, in terms of time, I'm late. I haven't organised myself, I haven't rested and I'd like to take a break and recover from this difficult Route du Rhum.
After that, I'll come back to that. But I have other things to explore, other areas. That won't stop me from participating because I'm going to do some development with a runner.
I still want to sail with it, because we made choices on it for which I was partially responsible. After that, it remains a production boat, even if I think it will be something good. I was surprised at the number of announcements of entries, those who come back to the circuit. I hope the boat will be up to the task.
