From Jet Services to Everial, this is the story of a sponsor and a dynasty of ocean-racing yachts that marked a whole generation.
Jet Services: fast delivery
Jet Services is a fast delivery company founded in 1979 by Roger Caille and Michel Garcia.
The story of these two men and this company is in itself fascinating and full of twists and turns, supporting ocean racing through sponsorship for a long time.
In 1981, skipper Patrick Morvan was looking for sponsors to race the Solitaire du Figaro. He met Roger Caille and Michel Garcia. This is how Jet Services got its first foothold in ocean racing.
Jet Services, a big Hobie Cat
In 1983, the skipper put forward the idea of building a catamaran to compete in transatlantic races. He put the two directors in touch with naval architect Gilles Ollier. Jet Services, the first of its kind, was born. With a length of 15.70 m. It was based on the concept of a light, fast catamaran like a large Hobie Cat: two hulls, a central net and no nacelle. They set about finding a shipyard to build the boat, but no one was willing to take the risk of building this kind of unusual multihull. No problem! Gilles Ollier and Roger Caille founded their own shipyard: Multiplast.
Unfortunately, the career of this first boat was to be short-lived, as after a podium finish in the La Rochelle-New Orleans race with Patrick Morvan and Jean Le Cam, the crossbeam broke on the return trip. Dislocated, the boat was abandoned.
Jet Services II, a 60-footer
But Roger Caille and Michel Garcia were not about to let this first setback get them down. Still working with Gilles Ollier, they launched a new Jet Services boat, which hit the water on April 15, 1983. Larger than its predecessor, Jet Services II measures 18.27 m by 10.30 m and is fitted with ballast in the hulls.
In the hands of Patrick Morvan and Jean Le Cam, she took a respectable 3rd place in the double-handed Transat, distinguished herself in several races before beating the Atlantic record in 1984 in 8d16h36', averaging 14.2 knots. Patrick Morvan is surrounded by Jean Le Cam, Marc Guillemot and Serge Madec.
Unfortunately, on that year's OSTAR, while leading the race, he hit a log and had to retire.
Jet Services III, a monohull cruiser
Although Patrick Morvan fell in love with the Jet Services III, a large monohull over 20 m long, it is not intended for racing. It is used by Patrick Morvan for cruising with friends.
Jet Services IV, forerunner of the Ultim
In 1985, we entered a new dimension. At 25.91 m long and 13.5 m wide, Jet Services IV was a monster of power for its time. However, it remains notorious for its numerous breakdowns. After several technical problems on the Tour d'Europe, she broke her front beam on the Monaco New York, but still finished 3rd. She suffered rigging problems during an Atlantic record attempt, and capsized off the Azores during the return trip.
The multihull was rebuilt and relaunched in 1986. But the troubles were not over for this incredible machine, which broke a daggerboard during the La Rochelle Grand Prix, only to dismast during the Route du Rhum. This latest damage led the sponsor to take on the mast builder in an interminable dispute. In the meantime, the boat remains abandoned.
Jet Services V, the Tornado
It will be replaced by Jet Services V, which âeuros following the limitation of boats to 22.85m maximum âeuros will measure... 22,85m.
This time, Gilles Ollier is going far for minimalism, doing away with the nacelle altogether and simplifying the beams to simple tubes. The aim was to create a lightweight boat that could be dismantled. The boat was nicknamed "the Tornado", as it was similar to the small 6 m catamarans of the same name, the Olympic supports of the time.
The catamaran was destined for a great career, winning 6 of the 8 legs of the Tour d'Europe, but the story was marred by the death of Daniel Gilard during the La Baule-Dakar. Halvard Mabire, his team-mate on the event, could only note the death of the skipper. Jet Services hesitated for a long time before abandoning its sponsorship of the ocean race, but finally decided to continue.
Serge Madec takes over the helm of the catamaran and leads it to victory in all the major races of 1988: winner of the Trophée des Multicoques, the Quebec Saint-Malo and the Route de la Découverte. That same year, he broke the Atlantic record between New York and Lizard Point in 7 days, 6 hours and 30 minutes, before improving his own time in 1990, also pocketing the 24-hour record for this crossing (522.7 miles).
Birth of ORMA, end of Jet Services sponsorship
But in 1991, race organizers imposed a 60-foot limit for ocean-going multihulls. This was the birth of the ORMA Class. This restriction did not please Roger Caille, who put an end to Jet Services' sponsorship of ocean racing. He turned his attention to the Blue Ribbon Record, the prize for the fastest motorboat between Western Europe and North America.
In 1993, Jet services V was resold, lengthened to 26.30 m, and renamed Commodore Explorer.
Lionel Garcia, following the Jet Services adventure
Originally from Lyon, Lionel Garcia had little interest in his father's and partner's hobby. In 1981, when Jet Services began sponsoring the company, he was only 10 years old and followed the adventure from afar, without much interest. It wasn't until he was 15 that he began to take an interest. He was invited to race starts, rubbing shoulders with the sailors and discovering this environment.
In 1989, he applied to join the technical team, which followed the Jet Service V truck on the Tour of Europe: " I was the sailors' nanny. I did the provisioning, the laundry at each stage, picked them up in the Zodiac... I was at the heart of the race, but not on the boat. I rubbed shoulders with all the stars of the day: Tabarly, Kersauson, Pajot, Riguidel... Even though I was a little shy at the age of 18, I'd bump into them on the pontoons, at prize-giving ceremonies and even in nightclubs. I also met all the youngsters of the time, who are the old-timers of today: Jean Le Cam, Serge Madec, Marc Guillemot... "
Despite this, Lionel did not sail much on Jet Service V. He made two convoy trips, one to Holland during the Course de l'Europe, and another in the south between Toulon and Marseille: " It was fabulous to sail on these monsters, which offer extraordinary acceleration and a sensation of lightness ".
But in 1992, Jet Services ended its sponsorship of ocean racing, and Lionel stepped away from the sport to begin his professional career. However, if one day he has enough money, either personally or professionally, he keeps the idea of returning to ocean racing in the back of his mind.
2016, meeting with Clarisse Cremer
In 2016, on Facebook, he discovered a video of a young skipper, Clarisse Cremer, filming herself on the TGV calling out to Michel et Augustin for sponsorship in the Mini Transat. Lionel calls her to say: " Miss, I'd love to sponsor your Mini. "But she replies: " That's great, but I already have a title sponsor, so I can offer you a little sticker on the back of the boat. "Lionel confides: " I got a little carried away and replied: "No, miss, I want the whole boat, otherwise I'm not interested. And I hang up. But I realize I'm making a mistake, this girl, she's got something. So I call her back to accept her proposal ". We quickly hit it off, and we'll even have a bit more visibility than expected, since we negotiated to have our logo on the spinnaker, which she chose to be pink.
A new Class40 story
Clarisse finishes second in the Mini Transat in a production boat. Everial continued to follow Clarisse in the Figaro before she was snapped up by Banque Populaire to race in the Vendée Globe. She still introduced Stan Thuret to Lionel, so that Everial could continue the adventure of ocean racing. " Like Clarisse, he knows how to set the scene, put himself forward and promote his sponsor. That's what I liked about Stan. "When Stan decided to turn the page on ocean racing, Lionel got back in touch with Erwan Le Draoulec, whom he knew well since he had finished just ahead of Clarisse in the Mini Transat and followed a similar course, also racing in the Solitaire du Figaro.
" During all this time, I had few opportunities to sail. I started learning to sail on Clarisse's Figaro. In my Jet Services days, I was just told which column to grind, but I hadn't really learned to sail. "With these basic skills, Lionel embarked on the Class40 with Stan to race in the Drheam Cup and a few legs of the Tour de Bretagne. " It's very exciting and rewarding to be able to tack on these boats. "
Although sponsorship of ocean racing began as a personal passion, today it is an integral part of Everial's communications and identity.
