What is the objective for this Atlantic Brest?
"I want to bring something more. It's a first to take a mediaman on such a long, non-stop Ultimate race." This ocean racing fan is always frustrated to be able to watch only a few images on board and quite occasionally of the races he follows. He therefore hopes to be able to tell this new sea adventure and bring his outside point of view on the sailors he will follow, Yves le Blévec and Alex Pella.
"I want to bring the race to life from the inside, like we've never seen before. I am lucky to be on a boat that is not as recent as the others, that people already know because it is the old Sodebo, and on which there is not much to hide. I can't wait to do this!"
Indeed, the greatest secret reigns as absolute master on this small hushed world of the Ultimate. Some sailors do not want the current sail settings, the technical elements of the boat or their potential galleys to appear in the images.
"Armel the Cleac'h for example is mute like a tomb during his races unlike Alex Thomson who will give information on these settings... it might be a little the same thing in Ultimate, and the mediaman will have to manage with these principles."
To keep the race alive on a daily basis, Ronan has many ideas and wants to be inspired by these achievements of Lost in the Swell. " I have a lot of ideas! With Lost in the Swell, I was doing voice-over, and I hope I can do that. Under which periodicity, it is to be defined, because it takes time. I would potentially like to be able to transmit the galley of the day, the little happiness of the day. It's going to depend a lot on the performance and morale on board. On the days when they're rinsed and tired, I'll tell my life story instead."
How are the images transmitted?
Ronan will assemble his boats on board the trimaran and has enough capacity and budget to send his creations ashore. Let us remember that communication is one of the major budget items at sea and that it is managed directly by each of the teams.
"I am lucky not to get seasick because the sailing is often intense. When you do the assembly, at the bottom of the hold, in a noisy and humid environment with 5 to 8 m of swell and 38 knots of reaching, it's sporting" ronan laughs.
While the choice of on-board equipment is left free, the achievements are not. "We must send 2 minutes of raw video images, 5 photos and a text of a few characters each day."
How to proceed?
If during photo or video shootings, he asks the skippers to "play a role", this will not be the case on the Brest Atlantic. "I can make myself a little mouse and it's a role I like to have. I'll put them to work when their heads are not stuffed with settings and routings, otherwise I'll let them concentrate and not disturb them."
What rhythm?
Since he does not participate in navigation, Ronan does not need to impose a fixed rhythm on himself. "If I feel like it, I can spend my nights and days taking naps "laughs the young man. Except that they want to take pictures of the pair and will have to adapt to the rhythm of these two sailors.
A specific training?
Although he is trained as a computer scientist, Ronan has never worked in his field. His passion came from a father who was a photographer and underwater cameraman who passed on his techniques to him. "There is no training, it's a niche profession. If I compare to the other mediamen, they all know the sailing world well first and have above all the seafoot before being a cameraman. I'm the other way around, even if I don't get seasick and it's a chance."
