From Optimist edges to naval architecture studies
Charlie Dalin is 35 years old and has just joined the IMOCA class with the brand new Apivia, a Verdier plan equipped with foils. It was during a holiday in Brittany, at the age of 6, that he discovered sailing, during an Optimist internship. There are no sailors in his family, but he likes the experience. "I discovered sailing by chance. I liked it and I haven't stopped since."
After a few years of Optimist, he quickly moved to 420 in sports school. "The Optimist wasn't going fast enough, the 420 was more fun." For 3 years, he followed a classic programme of the Espoir course in double dinghies.
After a scientific course in high school, he decided to study naval architecture. It was none other than Marc Lombard who recommended that he enter the University of Southampton. For four years - the curriculum was reduced by one year compared to France - he did not forget the regatta. "I was no longer sailing a dinghy but on habitable boats." He trains in the Solent and participates in several regattas such as the Tour of the Isle of Wight, sails in the Far 52 and takes part in some races of the Mini circuit and the Tour de France by sail during his holidays in France.
An architect's background is welcome
This training as a naval architect is now very useful to him, given the technological level of sailing today.
"After high school, I wanted to study sailing. I wanted to improve my knowledge of boats, see how they worked, draw them and build them and I didn't think I was doing so well at the time. Sailing has become very technological. This baggage is used on a daily basis.?»
If he was able to transfer his knowledge to Figaro, a circuit he frequented for several years, thanks to his studies, it was also very useful for the construction of his boat. "I spoke the same language as Guillaume Verdier and I was able to get an opinion on the construction. My studies are also useful in my daily sports life for the use of tools, weather strategies, reasoning.
©MxHorlaville / disobey./ APIVIA
A job to finance the races
At the end of his studies, he alternates naval architecture projects with racing projects. He also finances his boats through his professional activity. In particular, he is involved in the construction of Sidney Gavignet's trimaran Oman Air and the two Ericsson sailboats in the 2008/20009 Volvo Ocean Race.
"It allowed me to buy a Pogo 2 in co-ownership in 2007 and to finance my season until the 2009 Mini Transat. This race had been my dream for a long time and it was financially accessible with its own funds."
The revelation
This race also confirms to him what he felt deeply rooted in him, it is made for ocean racing. "As long as you don't do big races, you never know if you're really made for it. I got my answer after two weeks of racing, on the second stage. I was already wondering what race I was going to do next. I had in mind to participate in the Route du Rhum 2010."
Due to a lack of funding, he gave up the mythical transatlantic race. But while he was walking on the pontoons in Saint-Malo, he met the Brit Air team, sponsor of the IMOCA d'Armel le Cléac'h. The team is looking for staff for its design office.
"That's how I found myself in Port La Forêt to join Armel's team in 2010. My job was to participate in the modifications to the boat for the 2012 Vendée Globe but the project never came to fruition, Brit Air stopped its sponsorship."
©MxHorlaville / disobey./ APIVIA
A career in ocean racing in Figaro
Finally, he launched a Figaro program sponsored by Keopsys ( NDLR Today Lumibird) . His career in ocean racing was launched. He joined the Finistère Course au Large division for two seasons in Figaro, followed by a Transat AG2R with Gildas Morvan in 2012 before sailing with Nicolas Troussel on his Tour de France à la Voile project.
In 2014, he found a new partner - Normandy Elite Team - who financed an additional season in the Figaro. "I had a great season and a podium finish in all three French Championship events, which allowed me to win the title of French solo ocean racing champion."
At the end of 2014, he won the Macif Skipper Selection and embarked for four seasons, still in the Figaro. "I realized myself and I won a lot of events. I really made it and I made 4 new podiums in the Solitaire du Figaro."
The discovery of IMOCA
At the same time, he discovered IMOCA thanks to Yann Eliès, with whom he collaborated on the 2014 Route du Rhum, which the skipper from Brixen runs in the MOD70. At the end of the transatlantic race, Yann Eliès switched to a 60-foot monohull with Queguiner and offered Charlie the chance to sail with him in the Transat Jacques Vabre.
"He trusted me and offered to share with me my first experience of IMOCA."
©MxHorlaville / disobey./ APIVIA
The partnership with Apivia
At the end of his seasons in Figaro, his partnership with Apivia was born. "It is a young brand, in search of notoriety, which, in view of the results of Macif's sailing sponsorship, has decided to embark on the adventure." Because Apivia Mutuelle is an integral part of the Macif Group.
"I'm really lucky with their great commitment. It is a long-term project, culminating in a Route du Rhum 2022 and the construction of a new boat. On this project, we couldn't have dreamed of better conditions for a first Vendée Globe."
To build Apivia, the technical team studied old generation boats, even if they were reversible, and thought about the basis for accepting straight drifts in terms of hull shape.
"We bought the plans for the Super 60 designed by Guillaume Verdier for the Volvo Ocean Race. It was an opportunity to develop a boat already designed and to see the project in its entirety. When you build a boat, usually the elements come one after the other."
In collaboration with the architect, Charlie and his team have developed the shape of the hull, deck, general structure, cockpit and roof. "I also pushed to design a closed cockpit. The boats are faster and faster and more demanding but the man evolves less quickly. We must succeed in finding solutions to go faster, longer and withstand the shock."
Sailing in dry conditions
The skipper of Apivia evokes an architectural parallel with the automobile or aviation. " What is happening in IMOCA is a revolution that has already been experienced in various fields. The cars were quite open at the time, without windscreens and when speed appeared, we started working on passenger protection. It was the same for the planes. We used to steal with our heads upwind with simple glasses. With the speed, it was necessary to protect the pilot. Today, it makes sense - practical and aerodynamic - in ocean racing to protect the sailor."
Charlie also confides that he had retained the concept discovered on the IMOCA Hugo Boss. "We studied Alex Thomson's solution with the team a lot. I had proposed an interior cockpit with the winches at the foot of the mast but in the end we tried to start with a compromise, which allows us to helm the head out of the boat in a classic way."
©JM Liot / disobey / ALéA / Apivia
A collaboration with Mer Concept
The project is hosted by Mer Concept, the offshore racing team set up by François Gabart. "There is synergy and transversality in projects. We both pull each other up. There is a very strong know-how at Mer Concept. I feel like we made a good boat, well born. We have not encountered any structural problems and the performance looks pretty good. We are really happy with the boat, the team and the work done."
Since the launch, Charlie and his team have sailed a lot. "We're in the process of making it more reliable. After the delivery to Le Havre, we will have sailed 3?000 miles, the equivalent of a Brest - New York. It's not bad for a boat that was launched recently. I am approaching this Transat Jacques Vabre in a rather serene manner. It will be necessary to wait until the end of the race to validate the boat's capacities."
A versatile boat
"I have the impression that we have a pretty versatile boat. It is never slow, with a fairly easy to find bottom of speed. Even if it is always possible to go faster by fine-tuning the settings, I think we can get a good speed quite quickly. Given the recent launch of the boat, this is quite promising.
As for the other foilers, I haven't seen them all sailing yet. Compared to others, there are conditions where you are better and others where it is less good."
A podium to confirm performance
"The Transat Jacques Vabre is important in the program and essential to complete for the future."
If the young skipper wants to finish on the podium at least to satisfy his sporting ambitions, he knows that Apivia will still be in a period of increased reliability. "We're going to discover a lot of things during the race. If everything goes well, we have the ability to achieve good results and why not victory."
The objective remains, however, to sail the boat correctly and to be able to cross the Atlantic to Brazil. This step will mark the end of the reliability period before the beginning of the next season.
©JM Liot / disobey / ALéA / Apivia
A concrete coskipper
On the Transat Jacques Vabre 2019, Charlie will be accompanied by Yann Eliès, with whom he has worked almost every year since 2014. "I was his substitute skipper, I followed him on his Route du Rhum 2014 and 2018 campaigns and I took part in the Transat Jacques Vabre 2015. We get along very well and we are complementary in terms of skills. The division of tasks is very natural. He was really the logical teammate since we've already crossed the Atlantic together and finished on a podium. Yann is a person who finishes these races. He often finishes very well placed and has won the Transat Jacques Vabre several times."
