What motivated you to get into the Mini circuit?
That's a good question. I guess you never know exactly why you do it. I mean, there's a lot of different sides to it. There's the hardcore sportsmanship in compet mode. I love the sporting challenges, the idea of thinking "is my body capable of doing this, crossing the Atlantic alone on a small 6m50 machine". Having seen others do it in challenge mode motivated me. It's like saying I climbed Mont-Blanc or Everest or did the diagonal of madmen [Ultra trail organized at the Reunion Island Editor's note], for me it was a bit like that at the beginning. After there are many other aspects, it's also the adventure of a lifetime: being alone on a boat is half a spiritual retreat, discovering yourself, discovering the depths of your spirit. It attracted me a lot. Even before the Mini-Transat, with all the races you've done, you learn a lot about yourself. You learn how to manage yourself, how to deal with complicated situations. It's a good challenge to take on in order to grow up and continue to progress in life. For me, the Mini-Transat is the conclusion of a spiritual retreat, all alone at sea.
What you've been through on the circuit is as you imagined it would be?
I was lucky enough to have followed this for 4 years via my friend Tanguy Le Turquais who has already made the Mini twice. So I had an idea of what was going on because I had followed it from the inside. After that, I didn't have a clear idea of how things went at sea, how difficult it was... I told myself: "It's bound to be harder than I imagine", but in fact it was even harder than I thought! There are moments when it's really hot. One wonders what we're doing here. And yet I've never really had any big problems.
Have you ever had a moment where you regretted committing to this challenge?
No, because I've never been in any real trouble. But on the other hand, there are times when it's hard and you think "I just want to be in bed or with friends drinking a beer". When you're at sea on the first day and there are four days left, you ask yourself: "But how am I going to do it for four days? But these are temporary moments and the job and the experience is to manage to keep a more stable morale and not get caught up in this kind of negative thoughts.
And the good times, do you spend a lot of them at sea?
Yeah, totally. And experience helps. I've had a lot more good times at sea this year compared to the first year when I already felt like I'd had a lot of good times. The more you know your boat, the more comfortable you feel, the more you're open to something else and you're better able to take advantage of the real positive moments. Without that, it wouldn't make sense.
Is your boat ready?
Yes, he's ready. But it's always the same thing, we won't know until the finish line if he was really ready. I can't know what's going to break...
You're sailing on a Pogo 3, a standard Mini. Have you customized your boat?
Everything! The deck plan was custom made. When I got my boat, apart from the winches and the stanchions, nothing was laid out. Everything was done by Tanguy and me before the boat was even in the water. For example, there are the tarpaulins [the companionway can be closed with a transparent awning]. It's a partner of Tanguy's who does nautical saddlery in Vannes. It was designed not to take on water, to close the boat without closing the door, otherwise you won't be able to see your instruments. That's mega efficient! The other competitors say "I'll close my door", but in fact they don't and it gets the inside wet.
Even inside everything is custom, I really did a boat in my own hand. There's a lot of cool stuff.
How do you feel the night before you leave?
I can't wait to get into my cocoon for a while, get my weather ready and not be with too many people. It's been a busy day and a busy week. We're looking forward to it because we're tired of waiting.
And after you cross the finish line? What's next on your agenda?
I don't know that at all. I haven't given it much thought. The aim was to take advantage of all that, to do the Mini Transat at full speed. I'm going to try to do everything I can to get to the other side. As a result I can't project myself and I don't want to put the cart before the horse. I've never done any real ocean racing, I've never crossed the Atlantic, even on a cruise or a delivery trip.
