Louis, you are one of the pillars of the class40, where did this idea of video décalée? come from?
It is not mine this idée?! It was Aurélien Ducroz, my partner in the Transat Jacques Vabre, who was crazy enough to have thought of skiing snow behind our Class40 CROSSCALL CHAMONIX-MONT-BANC. But above all, he is sufficiently expert and sharp to implement the idea. I myself am impressed by the achievement.
How did you get to know yourself with freerider skier Aurelien Ducroz??
We first met during Quebec Saint-Malo in 2012, he had just done the Minitransat and we had a good time together. Later when I put my boat up for sale due to a lack of sponsor, he contacted me to propose a common project. Our duo is based on complementary experiences. I am a pure sailor and Aurélien comes from top-level skiing.
This video has a style that differs from the usual nautical videos, where does its inspiration? come from?
It is clearly inspired by mountain sports, such as snowboarding, freeride skiing, and mountain biking. These are teams of mountain people who came to the sea, that's why it brings fraicheur?! This type of video - funky and ultra-technical - is widespread in these environments, and it can be said that these videos are in tune with their audience.
In fact, Aurélien, after 3 world ski champion titles, has decided to play outside competitions. Supported by his sponsors, he staged his extreme sporting achievements and videos toured the world. It's a new way of doing sport, always pushing the limits, but out of competition.
We imagine that the implementation is quite complex. How much time did you spend taking vidéo??
We had very little time ahead of us, the timing was very tight. Out of the 3 days available, only one was usable. And on this day, thanks to the professionalism of the teams, we managed to take the 3 main shots.
The first one, from Lonemeur beach (56). The second shot is on a snow ski towed behind the zodiac with the class40 a little in front. Finally the third shot is Aurélien towed by the class40 CROSSCALL CHAMONIX-MONT-BANC who faces the bumps of the sea like on a black run.
Did it take you a lot of entraînements??
No, absolutely not. Aurélien is really an expert in his field and only he could have known that it was feasible, I trusted him, we are still teammates on the Transat Jacques Vabre?! (Laughs) The timing was ultra tight and we didn't really have much room for error.
From a technical point of view, how did Aurélien manage to catch the spreader behind class40??
That wasn't facile?! We first tried a stopped start, but it didn't work. Then Aurélien sat down on the sausage of the zodiac with his skis on and the rudder in hand. I started to turn the winches of the class40 to accelerate and the motor boat followed at the same speed. Between 13 and 14 knots of speed, Aurélien put the rope under tension and separated from the zodiac. Frankly, it takes a lot of talent on his part.
Did you have significant technical resources for this vidéo??
Not big means like helicopters. We still had 2 semi-rigid, our class40 CROSSCALL CHAMONIX-MONT-BANC and a pair of skis for the frosty skier. For the aerial images, the specialists worked with a drone. We were 8 people on the set: a videographer on board the class40, another on the zodiac, and a last one at the helm of the drone, our sponsors were also on board.
What was the most complicated aspect at gérer??
I was confident, but I didn't know if it would work. In fact, I was very concerned about safety, I think I was playing the role of the instructor responsible for kids who were a little agitated, but who had great ideas.
Do you have any anecdotes on tournage??
The montagnards?!!!!! (Laughs) No doubt they are excellent cameramen, used to extreme conditions like avalanches. They are committed and very willing, but it will never remove seasickness... And several times, we have seen the leftovers of meals fly away with the sea spray.
It was really an extraordinary experience, more videos will come and we hope to transfer some of the fresh and funky energy brought by our mountain friends.
