In the final stretch before the start of the Vendée Globe, this Sunday, November 10 from Les Sables-d'Olonne, France Bleu Loire Océan offers you a series of five guests to understand all the challenges of sailing around the world alone. The first, this Monday, is the CEO of the Dubreuil groupsponsor of the boat of the same name and which, for its 100th anniversary, decided to proudly display its colors during “the Everest of the seas”.
“We are usually discreet people”
However, the specialty of the Dubreuil group is planes with two airlines: Air Caraibes and French Bee. “We were looking for a unifying element for both our employees, since we have 6,700 employees in our group, and also to make our brands known a little., including Air Caraibes and French Bee which are actually present on the sails of our flying boat”explain Paul-Henri Dubreuil, CEO of the group. “So there is a common point between our two designs, both fly. And so, it is an opportunity for us to give visibility to our brands and to the group, while we are usually more people discreet.”
“We are very fans of the sea and sailing in the family”
Is the Vendée Globe an important showcase for a large company like yours? “We hope that there will be positive repercussions. It is true that it is quite unusual for airlines to sponsor boats, but we think that it is a very positive vector since offshore racing conveys values strong in competition, in games that are not truncated like in certain other sports. We are very fans of the sea and sailing in the family.”
“The taste for performance, for surpassing oneself, is the DNA of our group”
There is also the technology side, this desire to have ever more efficient boats? “Indeed, the Imoca, today, is a bit like the Formula 1 of the seas, with a lot of technology, a lot of on-board technique. A skipper needs multiple skills today to operate his boat at full capacity. And so that suits us well. This taste for performance, for surpassing oneself, for adventure, I would say that it is part of the DNA of our group.”
“He’s really the man I liked”
Did you choose a skipper from Vendée, Sébastien Simon, with the desire to play it “local”? “As is often the case in professional or personal projects, it’s a meeting. I met Sébastien a little over six years ago now, at the Vendée Tennis Open. We immediately liked each other. I accompanied him on his first Imoca project, therefore on the previous edition and I would say that he is really the man I liked. The fact that he is based in Vendée is clearly a plus. Sables d'Olonne, he was born in La Roche-sur-Yon So indeed, we are on a 100% Vendée project for our 100th anniversary and that was the little extra touch that suited us. “
“The goal is to finish”
What objective did you set for him? This is his second Vendée Globe after having to abandon the first, in 2020. “The objective is to finish. Afterwards, it's true that we have a very efficient boat and a very efficient skipper, so I would say that luck and destiny will decide the ranking. But indeed, our priority, it is to finish this Vendée Globe to restore confidence and start again on new healthy bases. Each finish of the Vendée Globe is magical.. So even if we unfortunately arrive last, I think the main thing is to complete this world tour alone and without assistance.”
