What remains today of the first Vendée Globe?
Its fundamentals have not changed. The basis is a boat propelled by the wind and the navigator. Everything is done with arm strength. They go around the world, pretty much the same route. They are alone on the ocean. In November 1989, eight days before departure, no one knew except us, our families, our teams. There was obviously no “Vendée Globe village”. The craze started in an incredible way, upon arrival. For me, it must have been around two in the morning. There were more than 5,000 people on the quays: it had an impact, a media success which was unprecedented in the world of ocean racing. And it has, strangely, not been denied. Today, there are all kinds of competitions but the Vendée Globe is still considered the pinnacle.
In 35 years, what have been the main developments?
There are many more standards today, it's in keeping with the times. The level of performance of the sailboats and their reliability are without comparison. But what has changed the most is communication. Today, on board a Vendée Globe boat, they are sending videos and making logbooks for the media. In my time, the only means of communication we had was the radio. It worked when it wanted to work. And it suited me very well that way. Before the first race, the organization said that without communication, we would be forgotten. We were leaving for three months, five months, we didn't know. The idea was put forward that we pass near certain islands to be able to throw away a video tape that we would have shot on board. We told the organizer: “If you put checkpoints, you will do the race alone”.
In 1990, you won the Vendée Globe and the Route du Rhum in a monohull. Then you stopped competing. For what ?
I discovered myself as a sailor while sailing with Eric Tabarly. I wanted to be captain myself. So I looked for sponsors, did races, and I won a number of them. From there, I resumed my life with brushes. Ocean racing was a very brief episode in my life, but very publicized. The only event I'm dealing with today is the one I created with my friend Florence Arthaud, the Jules-Verne Trophy. In this race, there are no standards and that's what we liked. You can go there with a 100 meter ship or a paper boat.
Did you continue to sail after the competitions stopped?
Occasionally, but I have never sailed for pleasure. It wouldn't occur to me to spend a weekend on the water. A boat is a tool for getting from one point to another. Preferably on the other side of the ocean.
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