Gérard Petipas is a regular at sea racing. He knows the stories and anecdotes of just about every race in both hemispheres that has been held over the past 50 years. But he is not just a passive historian of ocean racing. He has personally, as a sailor, participated in many of them. Notably the famous Sydney Hobart, a race that is not as simple as it seems.
A hard, organic, living sea.
"No race is ever simple or easy." That's what Gerard Petipas explains about the southern classic: "But the Sydney Hobart is a complicated race. It's a long race, which requires constant and sustained attention. In 1967, we had unfavourable weather when we arrived in Bass Strait." Speaking of the South Seas, the navigator says, "The seas are rough and heavy. It is alive. When they hit the bow of the boat, the waves are aggressive and nasty. It's an organic sea." The changing weather contributes to this feeling. "When you leave Sydney, it's the middle of summer, short sleeves and shorts. Just two days later, we're in the middle of winter, parkas and oilskins. There's no transition like you see in a classic north-south race."
Rating error in the ranking
The race classification has been turned upside down, as the navigator explains: "We wanted to finish first in real time. The compensated time did its job, we were ranked second. Except that a few months later, Eric [editor's note: Tabarly] realised that the rating applied to Rainbow II was incorrect. Although the official ranking remained the same, we actually won the race on both counts, real time and corrected time." A race won in 4 days and 4 hours by the young crew.
Invited to take part in the race by Australia
It was often surprising conditions that prompted the skipper to take his Pen Duick III on board for the race. His navigator tells us, "We had raced the whole RORC season in England, Sweden and France. Eric accepted an invitation from the Australians. An Admiral's Cup team invited us to come and race the Sydney Hobart. It is one of the 3 famous races in the world with the Fastnet and Bermuda. Of course, we were tempted to go and run it." Only, the physical conditions being what they were then, it wasn't going to be as easy as it looked. "Solutions had to be found. To move the boat on the one hand... Then to move the crew on the other. Only two people in the crew had a situation, I was a merchant navy officer and Éric, a naval officer. All the others were either students or conscripts, so they had no income. Eric found a solution, he made an agreement with the shipping courier company to transport the ship to Sydney. For the crew, thanks to Mr. Messmer, who was Minister of the Armed Forces, and because Eric was still active, we were able to benefit from space on board the flights reserved for military personnel on the planes going to Noumea. We were able to take advantage of extremely discounted tickets to New Caledonia."
A crew outnumbered
A young and heterogeneous crew aboard the schooner, who, as the sailor explains, are outnumbered. "The summer crew consisted of Mr Tabarly Père and Patrick, Eric's brother. Olivier de Kersauson and Michel Vanek were two conscripts of the contingent on board. It was one of Eric's agreements with the army to take conscripts on board for their training. Pierre English, Philippe Lavat, Yves Guégant, Éric Tabarly and I [Editor's note: Gérard Petipas] completed the sailors' part. We were accompanied by Jean Pierre Biot and Claude Durieux, both journalists at Paris Match."
Win, but with elegance
The feeling of winning the race is always exhilarating, no matter what the sea. Victory is all the more motivating when it is part of a series, as Gérard tells us: "We had already won 6 races, the crew was super motivated and close-knit. Quickly, during the transmission of the positions by BLU, we realized that we were leading the race" A race that ends with great pomp and circumstance "We, the little French boys, used to the sneaky finishes, win a race in Hobart in front of thousands of spectators on the other side of the world. We were at their home, the Australians, and we won. Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania are the land of sailors. Even back then they had a real awareness of what it meant to win a race. These people have the consciousness of the crew." In keeping with French tradition, our national crew couldn't be satisfied with the first prize, they had to win another trophy. "We won the prize for elegance as well. Before the departure, I went to meet Bernard Lacoste, he provided us with free shorts, polo shirts and all the outfits we were going to wear. We were all beautiful, it was noticed!"
The sea remains the same regardless of the time..
Does the yachtsman see any essential differences between the 1967 race and the race that will start on 26th December 2020? "The boats have made spectacular progress. Like everything else, sailing is an eternal new beginning. After the multihulls had finished killing off the monohulls, Éric said "One day the designers are going to take a new interest in monohulls and there will be a quantum leap in the performance of these boats". History proved him right, the monohulls on board in such races are phenomenal, both in their dimensions and their design. But let's not overlook one thing that remains the same. The sea is as merciless and demanding as ever. It was there, identical, 50, 100, 200 or 1000 years ago. When ancient sailors set sail, they faced similar navigational challenges as we did in 1967 or the runners of 2020."
Managing to finance the boat
It's an important ability to get by that enabled this fine crew to take part and finance the race, as Tabarly's friend explains: "We all had a duty to find solutions and tricks. Like a grocer offering us pâté, like a baker offering bread or a wine merchant offering wine. We managed to get a complete lazarette at a reduced cost. That's what would allow us to have a boat in the best possible condition. Everything that came in was injected into the boat. Renault had offered us a diesel engine and a rigger had offered us all the ropes". Looking for financing, a full-time job yesterday as well as today. He concludes "Look at Jean le Cam in the 2020 Vendée Globe. He's a brilliant sailor, but he had all the trouble in the world to finance Yes we Cam!." There is no correlation between the qualities of the sailor and the funding he will receive in the end.
How to prepare his race?
"Advice is not given." Gerard explains when asked which ones he would give to a beginner today. "It's up to each one to prepare his navigation, in his own way. Don't throw yourself on technology and modernism. They are aids, but they don't do everything. Remember that the sailor stays on board, the one who works. He's the one who'll squeeze the butt and do the work. There's no real race without assistance nowadays. In the event of damage, all you have to do is unhook your iridium to get assistance from the boat. It's neither right nor wrong, but you've got to think about what you can do without it."
Some kind of mystical experience
Speaking of communication, Eric Tabarly, the friend of the shutterbug Éric Tabarly explains: "Too much talking is spoiling the adventure. There's something mystical about ocean racing. Going out to sea is a spiritual retreat for most sailors. Some sailors don't want any means of communication. Others go there to retreat. This is the case with Parlier or Poupon. On the other hand, others are extremely good at communicating. Take Loïc Peyron for example. He is more than a communicator, he is an explainer. He would certainly be as good at talking about Formula 1 as he is at talking about ocean racing, he knows how to teach things and make them understandable to the greatest number."
Chance and coincidence are the salt of life..
One of the anecdotes of Gérard's exciting life is linked to Éric Tabarly's marine mutism. "When the 67 Sydney Hobart arrived, Philippe Gildas had asked me to accompany Eric for an interview in Hobart at the finish. As usual, Éric was not extremely talkative, so I was the one who answered the questions and conducted the interview. That's what got me off the air. Gildas noticed a radio talent in me, I went back to RTL where I worked for 5 years, then on Europe 1, for about 15 years..."
