A desire born 3 years ago
Gwénolé Gahinet is an ocean racer in real life: Mini, Figaro, IMOCA, Ultim... He even holds the Jules Verne Trophy alongside Francis Joyon. Anne-Laure, his wife, is co-founder of the "Colloc", a coworking space based in Lorient, Brittany. She was also discovered alongside Clarisse Crémer, at the time of her promotional and humorous videos in Classe Mini.
Both have the sea in their blood. Anne-Laure learned to sail in Brittany when she was a child and has a few regattas to her credit, such as the Tourduf' and the Spi Ouest France. She also followed the race Les Sables-Les Açores-Les Sables on board an accompanying boat.
"She has good coastal and offshore sailing experience. She is comfortable at sea, she is not sick. She loves being on the water." explains Gwenolé.
They are the happy parents of two little girls, Julie and Cleo.
Since September, they have been experimenting with a new way of life: living on the water and traveling around the planet. A dream started 3 years ago.
"This family trip will allow us to enjoy the fact that we love each other, that we are good as a family. We want to see our children grow up. The idea was born during Cleo's maternity leave, 3 years ago. We left 1 ½ month in the Grenadines by boat. We loved it. The idea of going back was a good project."
Mixing life on board with the organization of sports and family expeditions
In addition to the family trip, this break on the water of several years will also be an opportunity for the couple to practice many activities: board sports, kite, wingfoil, diving, etc. Anne-Laure and Gwenolé also hope to organize sporting and family expeditions around their project. It is in this sense that they welcomed a family of 5 people on the 2nd leg of the Mini Transat.
"We wanted to see if it was possible, how much we could get on board... And in the end, it's a good successful test."
Define a program according to the children
If their journey has started as a companion boat for the Mini Transat 2021, the route is not really programmed for the moment. Currently in the West Indies, they will take advantage of this time to define the main lines of their navigation.
"We should stay in the West Indies until February and then go to the Pacific via Panama. We would like to reach Polynesia quickly. It seems to be a great place to be with children. For a beginning of trip, it is what seems to us to be the easiest: not too much insecurity, French language. Then, we could go to the Philippines, in Indonesia. There are many places to discover. It is exotic and interesting to change language and culture. It can also be very nice."
However, their basic desire is rather to get off the "beaten track" of the big cruise.
"We wanted to discover the canals of Patagonia, to realize more committed routes. We finally returned to the classics. Our children are young, 3 ½ and 4 years old. It's a big job to take care of them full time. So we start with easy, accessible things. When we feel like it, maybe we'll do some more original courses. We'd like to move towards that. My wife grew up near Grenoble, she loves the mountains. My grandfather lived in Avoriaz. I like that too. We'd like to mix this passion for the mountains with the sea in Patagonia or Alaska."
A long 11-month refit of a 47-foot catamaran
For this long trip, they chose a second-hand boat, a 47-foot catamaran, an Eclipse 472 euros, transported from Martinique to Brittany and entirely refurbished to their taste. Of course, it would have been easier to buy a new boat, but the craze for the sector is such that it is hard to find the right model and to get past the long construction times. This choice is also an ethical one, as the sailor explains.
"We participated in the movement "The Wave". It is a collective that reflects on ecology and ocean racing. But also on yachting in general. The observation is that there are so many little used boats that it hurts the heart to build a new one. It's true that second-hand boats are not easy to find. You have to look for a long time, the prices are not always right. Especially on the catamaran market.
I also wanted to prepare this boat. To adapt it to our program. To have a seaworthy boat, with which we can face all conditions. To be autonomous in energy and water (editor's note: with a watermaker). To have at the same time comfort to leave for a long time without too much superfluous. For example, our fridge is big enough to be autonomous, but we don't have a freezer.
We kept the systems simple. The boat consumes little electricity and is easy to maintain. It was quite an exciting job, but quite hard. It required a lot of work. I found a great team to do it all. That, by the way, was the big part of it."
Finally, 11 months later, ZaiZai is brand new - despite its 11 years - and ready to be launched: painting, glazing, fittings, electricity, revision of all the systemseuros It was also necessary to work on all the aspects of a travel boat: ventilation, ergonomicseuros
"Eventually, you have to deal with all the constraints of a boat and a house together. I wouldn't do it every year, and not like this. We had the constraint of the Mini Transat start. It was a big pressure to finish everything. We managed to do it! It's a pride and joy!
It's a little crazy. Sometimes you wonder why we do all this. We could have found something simpler. But our boat is perfectly suited to our program and original. It meets our needs and the life we can have on board."
A first as an accompanying boat in the Mini Transat 2021
Launched at the beginning of August, the family has three weekends left to sail and discover their boat. Les Glénan, Hoëdic, Groixeuros are the opportunity to sail in conditions with little wind. Then it's time for the Transateuros!
"It was a great technical test. We asked ourselves a few questions when we had to unballast. There was a front in the middle of the Bay of Biscay. Waves of 4 m high, gusts of 35/40 knots. What to do with the children? Take them with us? Leave them? We quickly decided that it was a last resort. We wanted to start this adventure as a family from the beginning. That's the great thing about making a big effort to prepare. Everything we did wouldn't have made sense if we hadn't gone now. In the end, everything went really well. They were stressed, but not sick. After two days, they were living normally upwind, in the sea. The advantage of the catamaran is that it doesn't list, it moves properly and we enjoy life on board."
Continue to work, but in a different way
With a costly construction site, the budget set aside at the beginning has been largely reduced. Gwenolé and Anne-Laure are thinking of ways to work throughout their trip, while enjoying their children.
"We always imagined a different way of life, in which we would still work. But working in a different way. Enjoy living with family. The mission on the Mini was work. I also worked in weather for the Ministries, did the weather briefing before the start for Lorient Grand Large. I would like to continue to develop this weather activity. I really enjoy it. I'm passionate about weather. Routing is quite magical, the way you prepare the navigation with the weather and the software."
Anne-Laure keeps her consulting activity for the Colloc, a co-working space that has continued to evolve and develop, which she co-founded.
Develop new activities and share their adventure
At the same time, the couple is thinking of a way to use their boat for different activities: welcoming families, organizing sports expeditions.
"The boat is a great medium to host people. We have several hypotheses to work with and it's interesting. We want to live our trip well and be in balance. The living conditions, the way of managing the children, the place where we live changes. It's an adventure. The girls go to school on board. Formal time is limited at that age. We dedicate time to activities for them to do, such as cooking and boat activities. It's our life learning. It's great to see them grow, learn, be more connected to what they want to do. Right now they are learning to swim at an incredible speed. They're jumping out of the boat. It's pretty awesome."
After a very intense month and a half, Gwenolé, Anne-Laure and their two daughters will be able to take advantage of the four of them, cut themselves off from the world and relax on their boat. They took advantage of their stopover in Martinique to say hello to their sailor friends participating in the Transat Jacques Vabre. They are now heading to the Grenadines and will entrust the children to their family.
"It's a great place to sail. There is wind. We will also prepare with Anne-Laure what we will do next. Define a program and the way we will work with the boat. We will start to take the rhythm of the trip. We have fewer and fewer constraints."
To follow ZaiZai's adventures, the family has a website, on which they broadcast their podcasts, but also an Instagram account. She intends to create a community for the new activities she wants to launch. In addition to the podcasts, ZaiZai would like to find sponsors to make a real movie of their adventure throughout these years.
