Shortly before the start of the Route du Rhum 2022, we spoke with Alan Roura about his preparation for the transatlantic race and beyond, and about his IMOCA Hublot, whose design marked a milestone in the class when it came out under the colors of Hugo Boss.
Why did you choose to take over Alex Thomson's former Hugo Boss and how do you approach sailing a boat that had a complicated start?
When I returned from the Vendée Globe 2020, I contacted Alex directly. At the same time, I did a lot of research on building a boat, especially the sistership of L'Occitane, the one that became Initiatives Coeur. But it doesn't take the same team to build a boat and I wasn't sure I had the energy. As a solution 2, there was Arkea, but I wanted Hugo Boss, because it has a clear design bias.
We got the boat back early and late at the same time. There was a great transmission with Alex, even if we have a rather different way of sailing. We stripped her down together for inspection, then we sailed her together from Toulon to Portugal with each one of our team members. Then he let me take the helm.
The boat was born at the right time, but she lost her keel and then came the Covid. In the end, she sailed only 3 months before the Vendée Globe. Alex Thomson was unlucky with the timing. As for the structural problems, today we made 50 knots at all points of sail with the sea. 8,000 miles before the Route du Rhum and not a crack. We are serene.
What modifications did you make to the boat?
Alex designed this boat for the Vendée Globe. He put all his experience into the boat. But Alex does very little upwind sailing. He didn't study anything for it on the boat! So our goal was to make the boat more versatile without losing speed downwind. Because when you lose 1 knot and 10 degrees upwind compared to the others, it's a problem... With our new mainsail, worked on with Incidences, we have a significant gain. We worked on the heel. The mainsail is 40 kg lighter than the 140 kg!
We have saved weight in various places, such as by simplifying the electronics. With the sun, we manage to be autonomous in energy. We also thought about the system of matossage, so that it is not only with the force of the English, like Alex!
We're not going to redo the foils today. There is the cost, almost 200 000 euros! We're also trying not to do work just to do work. Between 6 months of work and 6 months of sailing, we may have better time to be on the water. The project still in mind would be to redo the bow by finding a simple solution.
What changes did you make in your preparation with this new boat?
Time! I especially had more time for a big mental and psychological follow-up that I didn't have before. Everyone does physical work and sails in 1 minute 30 seconds instead of 1 minute 45 seconds, what does it change? On the other hand, you have to be able to hurt yourself on these boats.
We sailed a lot. Knowing the boat inside out takes time. I've also sailed people on board from other boats. That gives an outside view. For example, Sébastien Josse was able to advise me on the headsail settings.
How do you see yourself on this Route du Rhum 2022?
I'm an outsider, with a good downwind boat, and therefore a Transat boat. I'm not afraid to take options and we all dream of winning the Route du Rhum one day. After that, we haven't seen much of the new boats, like Maître Coq, and let's just say that on paper, there are a few of them ahead!
I want to race and cross the line with my head held high. I'm looking forward to it like a Vendée Globe. It's very short and you can't afford to make repairs. You also arrive tired. In 2018, I was as tired as after the Vendée Globe. You have to know how to find the cursor!
