Yoann Richomme is a jack of all trades: Figaro circuit, Class40, The Ocean Race, and soon IMOCA. While waiting for his boat to be built, the skipper is back on the Class40 circuit to try to keep his winning title.
You're back as the title holder in Class40. Is the goal to keep your title?
We'll try to do the same, but I won't be given the win easily. There are a lot of competitors. It's complicated and that's why we like it. It's a great challenge to put your title back on the line. In the continuity of a future Vendée Globe project, we certainly want to perform well in this race.
Can you present us your Class40 and its specificities?
It's a Lift 2 from Lombard. There are seven identical boats in the race, including two high-performance boats, mine and Corentin Douguet's. It's a superb boat, particularly suited to the Route du Rhum and the weather conditions of the first week, with wind and upwind sailing. The other boats are designed more for downwind sailing with a tailwind. Rather oriented on the 2 e week of the race.
The first week, generally, it is stormy and hard upwind. You have to get out of the unpleasant weather of November in Europe, facing the wind and the waves and get into the red. The 2 e week, it's the trade winds downwind. It's more pleasant. The advantage gained in the first week is difficult to make up for in week 2 e week on a classic scenario. If the race is downwind and we send the spinnaker to Saint-Malo, then we will have fewer advantages.
I am happy to have worked all season together with Corentin and Queguiner. I am satisfied with the work done during 6 months.
Can the solutions you brought to your Class40 be transposed to your IMOCA?
We work globally with the same suppliers. It's a new learning curve for us.
The sails are very similar in their technicality. The biggest common element is the autopilot, which we had never used before. We had good feedback from the competitors. It's a great test bed for Class40. I will have the knowledge of this pilot, which I would not have had without this project. It's satisfying.
We are also a new team, we did not know each other. We worked on the design of a boat, but not on the technical aspects, electronics, rigging... We will be all the more operational for the IMOCA project. For the moment, I'm working alone with my technical trainer, but we're using the services of the team's specialists, who will be with us later on.
How do you live this return to solitaire?
I'm going back in a different way. The Solitaire du Figaro in 2019 is my last solo experience before the crew. I felt good with a crew, but I was missing something to perform in IMOCA in 2023. Initially, we didn't sign up for this project, but we went back motivated. It's a simple project, that we can control and that I can manage for the most part alone. I'm more ready, both athletically and technically, with this project. We are already a better team.
What is your vision of the Class40 level and its evolution since 2018?
Four years ago, we introduced boats with a fairly wide nose in front. They were very powerful boats. The scenario of the 2018 Route du Rhum proved that it was necessary to move in that direction. Many designers' plans were born with very wide noses.
It is impressive, we have between 15 and 20% speed gains. We also find ourselves, with this very powerful design, to be very fast on the first week of the Route du Rhum. The architectural evolution of the hulls is quite fantastic. It's a new deal. We learned collectively on their passage through the seaâeuros¦ ça also it is interesting compared to the IMOCA, even if the use is not the same.
Which format do you prefer, solo or crew?
I like both. In France, we are somewhat obliged to go solo because crewed races exist much less, especially if you make a living out of it. I wasn't a fan at first, but I got into it. It really motivates me, because the challenge is incredible and atypical.
I had quite an experience with Mirpuri, on the Volvo 65. I've done quite a bit of crew. If I had to choose, I prefer double-handed, we are lighter than with a crew, but with a friend to make jokes.
What is the next step in the program after the Route du Rhum?
It's going to go pretty fast. The Class40 was sold three months before she was launched, so we're going to make the handover. It will be in good hands. I'll be back from Guadeloupe on November 27th and I'll take a lot of time off to rest, before launching my IMOCA at the end of January 2023.
It's going to be very fast for us. But the timing is really nice. It leaves us 9 months before the next big event, which is the Transat Jacques Vabre.
Why move to IMOCA?
I started to dream about it a few years ago, when I felt mature professionally and personally. The Vendée Globe didn't appeal to me at first. But it is an incredible challenge. The hardest part was finding sponsors. I am very lucky that Paprec Arkéa came to me to pilot this project.
Especially since it's a project that I've been lucky enough to see grow. At the beginning, there was only the team manager Romain Ménard. We put together a great team. We did everything together, the choice of the architect, the shipyard� Nothing was imposed on me to design this boat. It's great for me, as I love this part of project management.
Can you tell us about your new boat?
The philosophy is to make a boat that goes easily through the waves. It's a boat that is sharper than what is currently being done, like the scows that are Charal or the former L'Occitane en Provence. It is more wave-piercing to avoid burying, with more volume on the top of the hull. The important deck movement allows to evacuate the water very quickly. We also repositioned the skipper in the center of the boat, with a closed cockpit for watchkeeping and maneuvers. Unlike the old Hugo Boss, we have placed the skipper in a position where he can see constantly and designed a closed cockpit around him.
A pointed bow, like on motorboats, we realized that this was the best trend. These are boats that sail with little heel, between 10 and 15%. This bow, a little bit raised, with a V underneath, allows to split the wave and to push upwards. It is against the current of what has been produced in recent times.
