A desire to take to the sea born of confinement
Mederic, 24 years old, sailing instructor at Les Glénans and Marie, his 30 years old sister, web developer, bought a second hand Symphonie to realize their dream of offshore racing with a sextant. The idea was born during the Covid-19 epidemic, when, confined to two, they escaped through ocean racing videos.
Marie explains "We followed the Vendée Globe 2020-2021, and in particular the film on Alan Roura's round-the-world race. It made us want to (re)sail."
Training courses in dinghy sailing and then in houseboat sailing to learn
If Mederic sailed from 7 to 10 years old in Optimist, Marie took her first dinghy lessons in Les Glénans at the time of the deconfinement with her brother. In 2021, they will repeat the experience. Méderic continued his training at the sailing center, which, in exchange for a volunteer program to maintain the fleet, offered sailing courses. The young man then switched to a program of discovery of habitable sailing before taking a training course and a position as an instructor in September 2022. Marie, for her part, also did a cruising course chaperoned by her brother instructor. Since then, Mederic has obtained his offshore Yachtmaster and is currently taking the Ocean grade, which he will validate after a sextant navigation. Why not combine business with pleasure by making this crossing with a sextant.
She explains: "I loved dinghy sailing, being outside all the time, close to the water. This transatlantic race is both adventure and escape, but also technical knowledge to learn. It's hyper exhilarating to learn a lot of things continuously."
Let's take the plunge!
The brother and sister are still thinking about buying a boat to do their transatlantic race together. But this is not the first project they have thought of and until now, it has not led to much. They are starting to think about buying a future boat, to determine the timing of the preparation when Mederic, at the beginning of the school year 2022, tells him "We have to go."
Looking for the boat that will combine comfort and performance
The project is taking shape, the date is given, the transatlantic race will take place in September 2023. There is one year left to prepare everything. To begin with, they had to find a boat. They establish a set of specifications:
- One of the first cruising race boats of the 80's, type First, Aquila, Rush, Attalia...
- A sailboat between 9 and 10 m with a draft of 1.60 m to face the conditions of the return transatlantic race
- At least one cabin to have some privacy
- A high headroom to avoid spending time hunched over
- A comfortable sailboat, but one that moves well
- A boat that is not too expensive even if it means doing some work and having the opportunity to learn.
Marie details: "We wanted to have some comfort elements on board. We were looking for a boat that wasn't necessarily the fastest, but that still performed well. A boat on which we could continue to learn to sail and why not also race."
The rare pearl, the Jeanneau Symphonie
They found several advertisements on Le Bon Coin and began their visits, 6 or 7, before choosing Nausicaa, a Symphonie from the Jeanneau yard. It is a 9.5 m sloop rigged sailboat built by the architect Philippe Briand in 1979, which they found in the Morbihan.
The brother and sister tell: "Nausicaa was the first ship we visited. We also visited another very similar Symphony. It was a bit more polished and clean inside, but had perhaps some structural problems. Nausicaa had already sailed twice around the Atlantic, the last one with four friends on board. It already had offshore equipment. For example, our boat has a Hydrovane windvane, which we would have added and which would have required a certain budget. The Symphonie is a welcoming and large boat with a lot of interior space. Of the entire range, it was probably the most comfortable. At the beginning we were ready to compromise on comfort, but the project is also to live aboard with brother and sister in the Caribbean."
A spacious and bright interior with storage
The interior layout is indeed rather spacious for two. The forward point offers a small cabin, a bathroom with sink and toilet is installed on the port side. On the starboard side, there is a nice storage space. This is a strong point of this model, on board which there are many lockers and equipment. In the saloon, which is very bright, there is an L-shaped bench seat on the port side, a second double bench seat on the starboard side and a huge saloon table in front of the sponge, which can also be used as an additional sleeping area. The L-shaped galley has two sinks, a gimbaled gas stove and a refrigerator that the brother and sister will not use during their trip. Finally, on the starboard side, a nice map table is right next to the companionway, with a coffin berth on the stern. The companionway leads to a small cockpit bathtub closed on the stern and equipped with a tiller.
The set of sails is composed of a mainsail in average condition, a heavy overlapping genoa and a light genoa, a reefing solent to go upwind, a storm jib, a rather light symmetrical spinnaker associated with a spinnaker pole. A jib is missing, as the sails were all torn.
Buy and take over 10 days on the Atlantic coast
After a visit in August, and a navigation on board, the boat was bought on September 9, 2022 for a negotiated sale price of 13 000 euros instead of the 18 000 euros requested.
Mederic explains: "We were able to negotiate the price, as some of the items were not in good condition. The headsail set is torn, for example."
Mederic and Marie got their boat back on September 18 and left for 10 days of sailing. If they would have liked to cross the Channel to visit their brother who lives in England, the conditions do not lend themselves to it. So they took their boat along the Atlantic coast.
A light airspeed boat that performs well downwind
They explain: "We had a big genoa with a very heavy cover, but it was great, because downwind, the boat was going really well. Very quickly, we were sailing at an average of 6 knots. Downwind, you go fast. Upwind, it's less stable and doesn't come up very well because of this large, very hollow genoa. People often talk about upwind or downwind boats and we quickly realized that Nausicaa was clearly a downwind boat. And it is very good for the transatlantic race! In light airs, we are between 5.5 and 7.5 knots. It's really nice to have a boat that moves forward in light airs."
A refit before the big departure
Since the beginning of December 2022, Nausicaa is at the shipyard in Lorient. Mederic and his sister spend a large part of their time there to complete this major refit before setting sail. Through training sessions and videos, they are learning about electronics, mechanics, electricity... and are doing the work themselves. They hope to put the boat back in the water at the end of March, which has a new harbor place in Lorient center. They will be able to continue the work there and Marie will be able to sail the boat in the evening after work.
Big strengths and one drawback
Mederic and Marie conclude: "The Symphonie is a boat with a real comfort on board and which goes well downwind. We are finally happy to have chosen a production boat, even if at the beginning it was not in the program. Everybody knows it, we can find parts easily, we can discuss it on the forums. The weak point is finally that although it has been rather well maintained by its 5 or 6 successive owners, it is not very young anymore and there are things that wear out."
