Trendsetter
"Very modestly, I like to set trends. It's all about attention, societal things that have nothing to do with the boat. It's a kind of feeling. We took the crisis of 2008/2009 in our face and we had to get out of the hole.
We're in a cyclical market, and again we're in a hole. At some point we're going to come out of it, we're going to bounce back. And to do that, you have to ask yourself where you're going to be in three or four years. We look around at societal changes, trends, by talking, reading, watching. It will take as long as it takes. It's a necessary step. We have to ask ourselves what the future of yachting will be with the integration of sustainable development as a prerequisite.
What will be the post-Covid? pleasure? What is this amène?? It's interesting to ask these questions. You find the family, you find the time. It's incredible to go on a family boat ride, you can see where you'll be in a few hours, especially on a sailboat.
To design a boat, you have to think of it as a succession of moments in the day. People need intimacy, but also conviviality. It's important to talk about values, key words when you're designing a boat."
Tomorrow's yachting
For Marc Van Peteghem, two major themes need to be worked on in order to design the yachts of tomorrow. On the one hand, accessibility, both financial and practical.
"Nowadays, buying a boat is less important than the use of it. You have to think about that. Do you really have to go to the Glénans for five years to find out how to use vent?? If not, do you have to go boating at moteur?? Why go boating at moteur?? Because sailing is too much compliquée?? We have to think about simplifying it."
The other big chapter is the zero-emission boat, why not an all-electric boat. Marc has also co-founded a design school in sustainable innovation in Nice.
"It's tempting and not so far away. After all, we are on a small planet. It connects a number of things. We're going to have to make choices, be careful with our consumption, learn a certain sobriety. It's a very necessary step and a very beautiful objective which must also be quite playful.
We'll have to change, find another future. We have to be creative, and find happiness, new prosperity, do things differently. It's just a parenthesis when you look at life. We're in the process of helping people find a desirable future. Our role is to pass on the baton and move in that direction.
I've been thinking a lot about the fact that we need to change. How do you change on?? You change in two ways: because you have to or because you want to. Einstein said to change people, you have to change society and to change society you have to change people.
The boat can be a way to make people change. I can see how this zero-emission boat could work, but we need to get back to a certain happy sobriety, but not a certain frustration."
