After a maternity break and a stormy end to your sponsorship, you're back with L'Occitane en Provence. How did you manage to pull off this project, so close to the Vendée Globe?
It certainly wasn't a foregone conclusion. I couldn't believe it myself. Clearly, it would have been impossible without L'Occitane being so responsive and so motivated, and without Alex Thomson reaching out to me and helping me with everything that isn't the visible part of our projects for the general public: getting a boat, contracts, creating a team, recruiting, logistics, practicalities... It was impossible to do all that on my own in such a short space of time. I'm a bit of a project manager after all. I could have been the type of person who wanted to, but clearly, we had to face the fact that it wasn't possible. I had to be ready for the summer to be able to take to the water. It was the fact that I wasn't on my own that changed everything.
How does it feel to be back on your boat? How did the return to competition go? Were you apprehensive?
I haven't sailed solo since the Vendée Globe. I'm not characterized by excessive self-confidence, even if I do take on ambitious projects. It was hard at first, because you feel a bit rusty. But then you realize that you never forget sailing, even if you need a lot of practice to get properly moored and feel physically fit. That's perhaps where it's been most complicated, physically. Whether it was fatigue due to all the stress of the year, maternity or the fact that I didn't feel very fit. These are demanding boats, you have to be strong. I'll never be the strongest of the bunch, but I aspire to be the best version of myself, and clearly that wasn't the case over the last few races. Overall, what's been really great is that right from the start, in my first race, the Rolex Fastnet at the end of July, I rediscovered a bit of the magic that may have been a little altered by the not-so-easy end to my previous project. It's a sport of passion, it's a chance, a privilege. You have to have a smile on your face. So if you're a bit unhappy, it doesn't make much sense. I was happy to get back to the magic pretty quickly. That's nice. Even if it's not always easy. There are times when I'm a bit down in the dumps psychologically, and I don't hide it too much.
How do you feel about this second Vendée Globe? In your comic strip, you headline, I'm going back, but I'm scared. Why do you think that is?
It was my first Vendée Globe, with a fairly short preparation period of 17 months. I'd started ocean racing not very long before that. So there are a lot of reasons for this fear. I think fear is part of our projects, so it's normal that it exists, and I think it's good to talk about it. I'm going into this with other things in mind, a lot more experience. I've grown up not only on the nautical side, but also on all the ancillary parts of a project.
If I'm going back, it's because I learned so much from the last edition that I want to put it to use. I don't want to run into the same pitfalls, I want to be stronger in my head, technically, to trust myself. I'm going for it, I'm scared again, but like a lot of sailors, I'm not afraid of the same things. Maybe I'm also better at managing my fears. That's the whole point. Fears are always there, the question is what you do with them.
Does it make any difference now that you're a mom to be going around the world?
I don't think it makes any fundamental difference. A lot of us sailors have children. On the subject of fears and worries, of course you want things to go well for your daughter. The idea is to put the logistics in place so that it's viable for her and she's in a stable environment. I think that's what we've managed to do.
The whole maternity episode and the fact that I've become a mother is a real strength. It allows me to be a little more decentered. Thinking about her is perhaps also a way of feeling less like complaining when you're out on the water. It also gives you a sense of duty and responsibility, which makes you know even more why you do what you do.
What will be your goal in this Vendée Globe, given that the last round-the-world race made you the fastest woman around the world?
So it's a bit anecdotal. It's independent of my performance. It says more about how few women there are. Ellen McArthur had finished her race 20 years earlier on a different boat. Each edition has different weather and different boats, so it's difficult to compare one edition with another. This record is more media hype than reality. I finished 12th. I was already very proud to finish my Vendée. I've often said that, especially in my comic strip. If I'm going to do well, my aim is obviously to finish. As I said before, to reuse everything I learned from my previous Vendée Globe, to be more serene, even if there are bound to be hard moments, and to manage technical problems better. That's what I did so badly psychologically in the previous Vendée. To be better at managing my personal energy. To sail better. To choose safety less. There will always be safety, because you have to finish and take care of your boat. I kind of jeopardized the competition in the first week of the Vendée 2020, by being the one to sail most westerly around the tropical storm Theta, which we had to contend with in the first week. Clearly, I don't want to be in that situation again. I may have to make choices and compromises, slowing down to avoid systems, but that's just like everyone else. The level of performance will be more present in my compromises.
Do you and Tanguy share strategies and analyses, or is it every man for himself?
Yes and no, because we have different boats, with different strategies. We share a little, but rather less than on our previous projects. We share more on subjects like team management, more global, more human subjects. After that, there are times when we talk maneuvers. Of course, that's part of our daily routine. We also try to have other things to talk about, even if it's difficult, because these are very demanding projects.
How do you plan to manage your environmental impact on the race?
It's a vast subject that's not just about the Vendée Globe. In our projects, it's not just about the race. It's great that it's becoming a really central topic. It shows that we really can't beat around the bush any more. It's a complicated subject, because the best way not to pollute is to do nothing at all, almost not to exist.
When we talk about sobriety with our highly competitive projects, it's not always easy. The best way is not to develop new things, not to consume new sails, not to upgrade our boats... This brings us to an almost philosophical question. Today, we could boast that we haven't changed anything on the boat, that we're reusing everything as before, but the truth is that it's also a time and money constraint. I don't want to boast about it and disguise it as an ecological approach. It's a very complicated subject.
I don't want to brag about it, because it's very basic and should be for everyone. I've been to Geneva, I can fly there, but I went by train. It took me 5 hours longer, but there you go. Sometimes I don't have the choice of flying, because my schedule is so full. You can question that schedule, to find out if it has to be so busy that I have to take the plane. I don't have any precise answers, I just do what I can. It's hard for me to brag about the little I do. After that, there are some basics that seem obvious to me, but which aren't for everyone.
On the other hand, I'm a big fan of my sponsor L'Occitane en Provence in this respect. They make cosmetics that are quite pioneering. They don't brag about it much. They're prepared to make some pretty drastic choices, putting best-sellers at risk to make sure the packaging is recyclable. They do some pretty strong things. It's not easy in their highly competitive industry.
I've been discussing it with IFREMER, and if I can get a beacon on board, if I can get the money for this big measuring tool, I hope I can do it. But it requires a lot of money.
I speak with humility, because I have no desire to give lessons, but I'm happy that this is becoming a central topic and that we're highlighting our contradictions, as a sport, as a competition.
