Why didn't you do foiling IMOCAs? Why the straight fins?
JEAN LE CAM: For one reason: control of your boat. I think that's a strong reason. I did the Orma trimaran and, at one point, the boats overtook the man. And I like to piss in the bastaque quietly, without feeling afraid. Mastery of the subject is important on a world tour. I didn't want to leave with a boat over which I don't have full control. Maybe I'm too old, but I don't know how to control a foil boat for 80 days in the seas we're going to. This is one of the fundamental reasons. Then, we had to find funding and when you're looking for five million euros, it's easier than looking for ten. Our projects are more accessible. So I’m very happy to be leaving on this boat.”
ERIC BELLION: “We swam against the tide but our plans are reasoned”.
When we read the organization's press releases, we have the feeling that there is a Division 1 and a Division 2: does that annoy you?
JEAN LE CAM: “Well yeah! Brunettes don't count for plums. When the organization speaks out to discriminate between blondes and brunettes, I don't think it's great. We represent 37% of the fleet, so we don't count for nothing! »
ERIC BELLION: “It surprised me, obviously, especially since it is very far from the facts. It's surprising to say that daggerboard boats are far from the Top 10. I have the 2020 ranking in front of me: there are four daggerboard boats in front and these are designs that are 14 years old. So, it’s outside of reality.”
With your straight daggerboard boats, where are you in the fleet?
JEAN LE CAM: “Four years ago, at the start, it was a great story with two favorite boats, Hugo Boss and Charal. Three weeks later, the decor had changed… A very smart person is he who is able to predict the decor in a month. It's total uncertainty. We’ll see at the end of the fair.”
ERIC BELLION: “I don’t know, we are so different from the other boats. I can tell you that I want to go and fight with the foilers. I want to leave some behind me, I don't want to confine myself to a fight with the straight daggerboard boats. You can imagine that we didn't build new boats at 5 million to fight with old boats, that's not our objective. Our boats are designed for the Vendée Globe.”
Is it more difficult to sell a new Imoca project without foils to a sponsor?
ERIC BELLION: “Companies told me no because I didn’t have a foiler. Foil is what sells, while these are the companies that preach sobriety all the time. We're a bit schizophrenic.”
Do you think we can make even simpler boats?
ERIC BELLION: “We thought about it, we have plans. The goal is for our boat to be as durable as possible. When we started thinking together, we went very, very far. Yes, we had ideas for super simple boats that would also allow us to sail more.”
Do you find that you are not browsing enough?
ERIC BELLION: “Does this technical innovation sometimes ruin our lives? Yes. When you take stock, our boats spend their time under construction, and we already spend our time behind our computer looking for money to finance them. We don't sail. So, yes our boats could be much simpler and I think they would please the public as much, or even more, who, for the most part, don't really see the difference. We should think a little about ourselves instead of thinking about architects and construction sites. If we really made sailors’ boats for sailors, we would make nicer boats.”
