How long have you been working with Sam as boat captain?
I started working with Sam when he was skipper of the Ocean Fifty Leyton. I was already his boat captain on the multihull.
We quickly got on well. Skippers and boat captains are very closely linked. One owes trust to the other, and vice versa. Now we're getting to know each other really well, knowing each other's little idiosyncrasies, especially the details that save us a lot of time.
Before that, I worked with Boris Herrmann on the match race circuit, and before that on the Volvo Ocean Race.
How was the transition from an Ocean Fifty to an IMOCA?
Technically, the Ocean Fifty is a reliable fiberglass boat, with a limited number of onboard systems. Our technical team consisted of two full-time préparateurs and an occasional one.
I knew that the Vendée Globe was a dream for Sam, so I was very happy when he launched the project and included me in it.
The IMOCA Vulnerable is on a different scale, which is very stimulating. We're six full-time staff, each with his or her own speciality: rigging, composites, hydraulics, electronics...
How did you get to grips with the boat, which finished in 6th place? e place in the last edition?
We started out with a very complete manual for the boat, which had undergone an incredible process of fine-tuning and improvement. In fact, we didn't want to revolutionize the boat. We came up with a few changes, in particular to improve the passage through the sea, which was one of her weak points.
But we stayed focused on making the boat more reliable. We stayed similar to the version that won the Route du Rhum with Thomas.
Sam had a lot of good ideas about ergonomics on board, so we added cockpit seats to complement the system for day-to-day use of the boat.
What were the consequences of this summer's dismasting?
Our mast was dated 2019. Unfortunately, you're still living with a sword of Damocles.
It's never a pleasure, but in the end the damage was fairly limited. We didn't have the 2024 set of sails yet, so we weren't penalized too much in that respect.
We've gone back to version 1.5 of the mast, which is reinforced at the chainplate points.
As guarantor of the technical aspects of the IMOCA boats, what is your opinion on the busy schedule the teams have had to follow to guarantee qualification for the Vendée Globe?
With the change in the qualification process, the IMOCA class forced all the boats to sail a lot of miles. Qualifying by the number of miles was extremely stressful, both for the skipper and the technical team. The calendar has been very rich over the last three years, but this has contributed to an excellent level of reliability throughout the fleet.
We arrive at Les Sables with tried and tested, reliable boats.
