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It wasn't their first transatlantic race, but it was their first on this boat. Aboard the trimaran Ocean Fifty Lazare x Hellio tanguy Le Turquais and Erwan Le Draoulec form an original crew. With the experience of a Vendée Globe finisher and the freshness of a Mini Transat winner, the duo seems ready to devour the miles of the Transat Café de l'Or 2025.
An interview that sounds like a premonition
This interview was filmed on the pontoons of Le Havre, just a few hours before the start, in the cockpit of their trimaran. Tanguy and Erwan humorously answer a series of short questions. They talk about race rituals, seasickness and fatigue, but also about the importance of "enduring the elements" and accepting the imponderables at sea. Less than twenty-four hours later, their Ocean Fifty capsized after a collision with a UFO off the Cotentin peninsula. Both skippers escaped unharmed, but marked by the violence of the event. In retrospect, the words exchanged in the video take on an unexpected resonance.
True confidences, between laughter and truth
Lucky charms on board? "Tanguy is my lucky charm, erwan replies. This kind of wink, a little candid, a little lucid, runs through the whole interview. We discover two sailors who are not afraid to be sincere, even when it comes to recounting a comforter soiled by vomit at sea, or an unfortunate grounding on a Channel Island in a Figaro. They're also two sailors who know that, sooner or later, the sea resets all the meters.
The sea spares no one, but welds together
This capsize is not an epilogue, but a reminder. It's a reminder that ocean racing is not just about polar fleets and GRIB files, but also about the ability to deal with the unexpected. In this interview recorded just before the start, the words are light, but never superficial. The bursts of laughter do little to mask these two sailors' acute awareness of the risks they take, and of the deeper reasons why they sail.
A video to watch again
What was a light capsule before departure becomes, afterwards, a suspended moment. A conversation on the quayside, with the boat still right side up, crewmates relaxed, and that lucidity typical of seasoned sailors. A video to watch again, not to look out for the warning signs, but to remember that at sea, we often talk best about what can happen... just before it does.
