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You experienced Saint-Tropez back in the Nioulargue days. What was the atmosphere like in 1985?
We were the dog-owning punks of that era! We'd show up with Lada Poch , after the Race Across Europe, with a crew of crazy guys. We?d set out from Kiel and tackled one leg after another before heading down toward the Mediterranean.
And in Saint-Tropez, two worlds came together. On one side were the ?little Frenchies??often from Brittany?with their small catamarans. On the other were the owners of large monohulls, many of whom were Americans. Back then, there could be genuine contempt for catamarans and for what we stood for. That has completely changed. Today, there?s much more interaction and respect between these different groups of sailors.
Things seemed to be pretty turbulent with the Maxis...
We really weren't very discreet! During the closing regatta, the Maxis set off 10 minutes after us. Given their size and speed, the idea was obviously that they would catch up to us.
Among those present was Jim Kilroy at Kialoa . While we were preparing to depart, he came over to hassle us. I protested, and someone on board called out to me over the VHF: "Are you racing today?" I replied: "And you?"
Next, I went to see Patrice de Colmont to file a complaint about a ?trash can? near the starting line. That obviously wasn?t very diplomatic.
We arrived with our caps on backward, a lively atmosphere on board, and behavior that stood in stark contrast to that of some owners of large yachts. We shocked a few sailing aristocrats. Things eventually got really heated, and I decided to leave Saint-Tropez before it went any further.
Even before Saint-Tropez, hadn't this European Race already been particularly eventful?
Yes. There had been Kiel, Zeebrugge, Torquay, Lorient, Lisbon, and then Benalmadena. And the race had been tough for the large multihulls. Éric Loizeau, Mike Birch, and then Philippe Poupon had all lost their masts.
As for us, we were winning the races in our class. And when the breeze picked up on the downwind leg, we even managed to get ahead of some 60-footers competing in the higher class. Our little Lada Poch was performing very well.
Between races, let's just say that our approach to recovery was different from that of a modern professional team. In Benalmadena, we came across a carnival and a ghost train. Some of us decided to "improve" the ride ourselves... That pretty much sums up the team.
Does this attitude explain the "punk" image you use when talking about your generation?
In 1985, we were in a league of our own. For a long time, the French were regarded as aliens when they arrived with their multihulls and their unique sailing style.
Perceptions have changed. Foreign sailors know what the French are capable of. So do the boatbuilders. When you look at what has developed around the Ultims, the IMOCAs, and, more broadly, offshore racing, there is now a considerable body of French expertise.
The funny thing is that at first we probably didn't realize just how unusual our approach was.
Yet didn't this generation also have a lot to learn from the Anglo-Saxons?
A great deal. When I had the opportunity to get involved with the America's Cup, I discovered just how demanding the crew members, engineers, and everyone else on those teams?especially the American ones?were.
We had a great deal of creativity in France. We were able to invent, experiment, and set out to explore new things. But we didn't necessarily have the same level of organization or the same systematic rigor in every field.
And for their part, what really impressed those teams were the French sailors. In the end, everyone had something to learn from each other.
You're still sailing with top-tier crews. What draws you to the TP52 circuit?
The level of skill is absolutely incredible. On board the TP boats, there are several kilograms? worth of Olympic gold medals and several multiple America?s Cup champions, but on the other hand, these guys have never spent a night at sea. Obviously, that?s just a figure of speech, but it gives you an idea of the concentration of talent here.
What I find interesting is also continuing to grapple with these methods. Everything is observed and analyzed. After each sail, we review a wide range of factors. This forces us to keep learning.
You recently got back on board Fujicolor 2 . Is nostalgia the first thing that comes to mind?
Not really. What comes back is much more physical. The little memory jolt happens when I go inside. Suddenly, I remember the sequence of movements I need to get in and out quickly.
They're gestures. The body remembers how we used to move around in the boat.
I immediately noticed that some of the handles were missing. In particular, I had planned at the time to include a small ledge on the hood so I could get a good grip. It?s no longer there. It may seem like a minor detail, but I noticed it right away because all of that ergonomic design was part of how the boat was meant to be navigated.
The period Fujicolor Is there one that stands out in your career?
I?ve been fortunate to be deeply involved with these boats and their development. We?ve pioneered many things. But I always want to put that into historical context. We didn?t invent the large ocean-going multihull or solo sailing on these boats all by ourselves. Others had paved the way before us.
It?s the boat I spent the most time on during my career. Highlights include two consecutive victories in the Transat Anglaise, in 1992 and 1996. There were the Courses de l?Europe, the Grands Prix, and a tremendous amount of development work on the boats. It was a time when we were constantly learning.
Does the Route du Rhum symbolize this French tradition of testing out sometimes unlikely boats in solo races?
That's one of the extraordinary things about the history of rum. Very early on, boats that hadn't necessarily been designed from the start to be sailed solo found themselves competing in this race.
That?s also why rum is so special. It brings together extremely different philosophies and boat sizes on the same sea. And for a long time, part of that history was made up of sailors who simply asked themselves, ?Can I manage to sail this thing on my own??
That says a lot about French offshore racing culture. There has always been an element of experimentation?sometimes quite crazy.
Would you like to race in the Route du Rhum again on an ORMA?
No, absolutely not!
Are the sailors who fly the Ultims better than those of your generation?
They're bound to be better than us in many areas. If tomorrow I had to step in at the last minute to replace someone on an Ultim?even setting aside the issue of physical strength?I'd be lacking a certain amount of knowledge.
There's everything related to computing, data processing, and tools that simply didn't exist when we started.
On the other hand, I understand the parameters we're trying to study. It's something I see in TP52, where we analyze a lot of data after each race. So I wouldn't be completely lost.
Is artificial intelligence beginning to change this analysis?
It already offers us additional possibilities for analyzing the data we collect. This is a fairly recent development in the way we work. But the tool doesn't solve the fundamental problem: we still need to know what we're looking for.
You may have a huge amount of data and extraordinary tools to analyze it; but if you don't ask the right question, you won't necessarily get useful information. That's where experience remains invaluable.
And sometimes, I actually find that young people aren't asking the right questions.
Is that, ultimately, what your generation can still offer today's web users?
Yes. Experience is particularly useful for knowing what questions to ask about a tool that someone from another generation may be much more technically proficient with than you are.
But there's one more thing I'd advise young people to do: sail on older boats, too. Foiling is great. But go sail on wooden boats.
I talk about this with sailors who experienced the America's Cup back in the days of spinnaker poles and all those generations of boats. Modern boats are extraordinary, of course. But go see how the older ones worked. Look at the solutions they came up with, understand why they existed, and how the sailors used them.
Because a modern boat didn't just appear out of nowhere. It is the result of decades of trials, successes, mistakes, breakthroughs, and the passing down of knowledge.
And that's probably what best connects the small multihull from the 1985 Europe Race, Fujicolor , the America's Cup boats, a TP52, and today's Ultims. The tools change. Speeds are changing. The volume of data is changing. But you always have to understand what you?re doing with it. If you don?t respect history, you have no future. That applies to boats as well as to sailors.
