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This Thursday, May 23, 2024, the Sablons marina in Saint-Malo came alive for the start of Act 1 of the Ocean Fifty Series 2024. The 9 50-foot multihulls battled it out, first on constructed courses, then inshore. Among the competitors, skipper Baptiste Hulin, the latest entrant in the race, based in Saint-Malo, is starting his first season at the helm of the Ocean Fifty Viabilis Océans. A former crew member on the same trimaran during the 2023 season, he is now taking the helm in 2024, driven by a steely determination and a thirst for human adventure. Before making a few tacks on his Ocean Fifty, we were able to find out more about his background, his ambition to perform and his enthusiasm for this new season.
Can you tell us a bit about your background, what motivated you to get involved in sailing and, above all, how you came to take the helm of an Ocean Fifty?
My name is Baptiste Hulin, I'm 27 years old, and I'm currently the skipper of Ocean Fifty Viabilis Océans, part of the BE Racing team founded by Louis Burton and Servane Escoffier. My background may seem a little off the beaten track. Originally from Cholet, in the Maine-et-Loire region, my passion for sailing began with the Vendée Globe. From an early age, my parents took me to the pontoons of this race, and it was there that I was drawn into this world, long before I started sailing. My parents didn't sail. In 2021, I introduced them to sailing for the first time, when I joined the BE Racing team. My desire to work in the world of ocean racing, within a racing team, had always been present in my thoughts. At first, perhaps more as a design engineer. Then, as my studies progressed and my professional and sporting career evolved, my aspirations changed. Sailing very quickly became a red line in my life, in everything I set out to do. I've always been driven by this passion, and I admire these magnificent boats on which I now have the chance to sail.
When I started out, I sailed dinghies in Cholet, on a lake. I was also a laser sailor. When I arrived at the University of Nantes, I joined the university sports section run by Luc Pillot, former Olympic sailing champion and president of the APCC Voile Sportive sailing club in Pornichet, which focuses mainly on match racing. This gave me the opportunity to get fully involved in this discipline, sailing alongside my current tactician, Simon Bertheau. We sailed together for 6 years, and won a number of French championship titles. It helped me develop enormously. I also did a lot of inshore racing on Diam 24s and Tour Voile. That's how, in 2021, I was able to join the BE Racing stable as a hopeful skipper, since every year they organize a selection to give a youngster the chance to discover ocean racing.
Following that, I did two Jacques Vabre transatlantic races and a Route du Rhum in a Class40; and this year, I'm entering my 4th season and find myself at the helm of Viabilis Océans on an Ocean Fifty. It's a progression that's actually been quite rapid. You don't expect it, that's for sure, but you also need a lot of ambition to get there. I think that's what convinced our partner Viabilis and the BE Racing stable to entrust us with this boat. What's certain is that today, I'm the youngest skipper in the Ocean Fifty class. It's a great challenge. I'm surrounded by a great team, and I've also got a good partner who's backing me up with a very strong team guest team on board for the first two days of the regatta. In important moments like this, that's what counts.
How do you go about choosing your crew?
On a typical weekend like this, during what we call the Acts or Grand Prix, the inshore crew will be five on board to run the boat: Simon Bertheau, Léonard Legrand, Justin Baradat, and Eliott Ledem.
In addition to the crew, four outside guests will be present, two representing the boat's partners and two guests from the circuit organization. During the offshore races, there will be three of us on board: Corentin Horeau, Léonard Legrand and myself, without guests. The choice of crew members is already based on affinities, because we're sailing with people with whom we should feel comfortable. And then, in terms of positions and roles, it's a function of each person's skills and what the skipper also needs in terms of skills and behavior on board. I think that, out of the 9 boats taking part, there will be 45 crew members with different profiles. It really depends on the philosophy of the projects and the skipper.
Has the boat undergone a lot of work in preparation for this season?
We've been lucky enough to have a boat that, since it was acquired at the end of 2022, has been very healthy and high-performing. We haven't had any major breakdowns like some of our competitors have had. As a result, this winter's refit was an opportunity to redo all the electricity on board the boat. We worked as a team and with outside contractors. And now we have a technical team dedicated to the boat, an in-house team specific to the BE Racing stable. We haven't had too many problems. We were one of the first to launch and sail the boat, precisely to maximize the time spent on the water this season.
How are you approaching the season and this first date in the calendar?
What's great for me is that I'm one of the newcomers to the circuit. As this is a crewed season, I'll be sailing with experienced people who can help me get to grips with the boat. So I'm approaching it in a fairly serene mood, with the desire to do well. Above all, we've done a lot of sailing on our own to train. Now we're really looking forward to spending more time on the water. I'm really looking forward to sailing with a crew and getting the season off to a flying start with the first round of this Act in Saint-Malo. Then there are the Pornichet-La Baule and Sainte-Maxime circuits, a transatlantic race from Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon to Saint-Quay-Portrieux, called the Route des Terre-Neuvas, and a double-handed Mediterranean race, the Med-Max Occitanie, from Port-Camargue to Saïdia in Morocco.
Have you experienced any major difficulties on previous voyages?
I've inevitably encountered a few bumps in the road during my 4 years of ocean racing. Whatever happens, as soon as you get out on the water, whether it's for an hour or ten days, I think that with every sail, every race, every crossing, you learn an enormous amount. You're lucky enough to work in an environment that's never the same. You have to adapt a lot. As for big problems, I've had one in my short career, when I qualified for the Route du Rhum 2022 in Class40. I lost the keel of the boat on my qualifying run. As a sailor, it was quite an ordeal to go through. I was very well supported during that event, and it helped me to acquire good reflexes in crisis or emergency situations. To do the right thing, especially from a safety point of view for the sailor and the boat.
How does it feel to be sailing for the first time on a boat like an Ocean Fifty?
It's exhilarating. These boats go very fast, despite their size, which can be quite small compared to the speeds they can reach. In the end, you feel they're manageable and human-sized. When you reach 30-35 knots at the helm, and even more, these boats are just exceptional. You really get the feeling you're racing on a Formula 1 boat.
Do you still like old rigs, or are you sticking with the Ocean Fifty class?
No, on the contrary. I took part in the Voiles de Saint-Tropez on vintage old rigs. It's always a pleasure to remember where our boats come from. Sailing, after all, is a mode of transport with an almost ancestral history, since it was thanks to sailing boats that the world was discovered. So these sailboats are important, and I love sailing them too. As much as I love being skipper of an Ocean Fifty, I enjoy exploring new things and, always, discovering new sensations.
As a skipper, what values or principles guide your approach to racing at sea and your relationship with the marine environment?
First of all, I think you have to be very humble in relation to nature. You have to accept that the wind is stronger than you are. You also have to have a great deal of respect for the marine environment and the cetaceans with whom we share the ocean. As skippers, we are witnesses to the oceans, and in particular to man's impact in terms of pollution. When we cross the Atlantic and discover plastic cans or traces of man in the middle of this blue desert, it's really heartbreaking. I think we also have a duty to bear witness and share what we, as sailors, can see in the heart of the ocean, while retaining that deep sense of humility and respect for nature.
