What is your first memory at mer??
My most distant memory is my first club regatta in Optimist. I must have been 8/9 years old and it was incredible conditions. It was in Granville and we had a force of 5 and 1.5 m of chop. It was complicated to see where the course was and to turn around the right buoys. But I did well since I finished 5th on 50 boats.
It's my first really memorable experience of what a regatta is. It was impressive, for a little guy like ça?! It was a sport, there was a lot of wind and sea.
What was the trigger that made you want to start this carrière??
This is my first double-handed offshore race in 2001 - the Lions race - with Ghislain Gendron on my Mini proto. I knew I was attracted to racing in Mini 6.50, and I wanted to do the Mini-Transat. When this double arrived, where we went through all the wind conditions, I told myself that it was a project for me.
I wanted to start my project right away, but I couldn't find any funding or partnerships. After having tried unsuccessfully for 2 years, I continued my work as a marine carpenter out of passion. I was doing modern construction.
Not having the means to buy a boat to cross the Atlantic, I symbolically crossed France on foot, with a backpack. Then I continued working, racing in 470 and finally, in 2007/2008 I was able to buy a production boat - a Pogo 2 - to make the Mini. I was 27 years old, I went there out of passion, without thinking that it would be the beginning of my professional career.
I quickly realized that I was doing well. I have won 6 races on the circuit in 3 years and a 3rd place on the Mini-Transat. Then I moved on to Le Figaro, a more professional circuit, with small sponsors and then bigger ones. I had good results until I participated in the French Elite Offshore Racing Championship in the Mediterranean, in the Hérault. I was Champion of France 2015 and obtained 2 podiums in the Solitaire du figaro. It's the pinnacle of my Figaro results.
Then I found other sponsors, Chemins d'océans and Groupe Snef, with whom I am now. We continue on the Figaro races and the offshore racing championship, with potentially a Figaro 3. And the long-term hope of making a Vendée Globe.
Have you had a mentor or another skipper who has you marqué??
I have the image of when I was young, of the skippers who competed in the Solitaire du Figaro, the Vendée Globe and the Route du Rhum. When I was a kid, I didn't imagine myself competing in races like this, and fighting in the front lines.
I especially got the little sentence from a friend who had told me: "3rd on the Mini Transat is good, but you have to go further and look for your limits. On the Figaro circuit, if you are 15th, it will be your limits. Start on a professional circuit."
It has guided me a lot in what I have done in recent years. Today, I still haven't found my limits and I continue to look for them by winning the Solitaire du Figaro for example and participating in the Vendée Globe.
Which boat left you the best souvenir??
They all left me with very fond memories. Boats and sailors are very close. There are many feelings and attachments. Moreover, the English say "she" to talk about their boat..
There is of course my father's boat on which I discovered sailing when I was a kid or my Mini with which I crossed the Atlantic and had a great time. But also my Figaro 2 that I sold to switch to 3.
What is your greatest success with marin??
I think these are my 2 podiums on the Solitaire du Figaro. Of course, crossing the Atlantic for the Mini is also a success. The Mini Transat is tough, but it's not as demanding a level as stepping onto a podium in the Solitaire du Figaro.
On a daily basis, what is your practice of plaisance??
Unfortunately, not much, because I don't have much time to go boating. I like to do family cruises, whether in Brittany or the Mediterranean. It's always a pleasure.
If you hadn't been a skipper, what would you have fait??
I am very manual and passionate about boat building and maintenance. I studied carpentry/navy carpentry and would have continued in the construction or maintenance of boats and especially set up my shipyard. My first picture of a kid, I already had a small sailboat in my hand..
