Working with a mental preparation coach for Eric Bellion was essential to tackle his second Vendée Globe. After a first experience in 2016, the skipper promised himself not to leave again. But the desire to return there and rediscover the feeling of fullness and harmony that he experienced at sea was stronger.
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In 2022, six months before the Route du Rhum, Eric meets mental trainer Gérard Vaillant. Things go well between the two men and Eric asks Gérard to accompany him on the Vendée Globe route.
“I wanted a professional to strengthen my mind, says Eric. It’s a preparation adventure that is titanic. People don’t realize how hard it is. It’s four years of adventure every day with extraordinary difficulties. And then during the race, it’s three months of extreme solitude, of decisions that affect our physical integrity and of hazards that can change everything. And I know that it’s the way you approach it, the way you react that changes everything. So I wanted to use this time to strengthen my game.”
Difficult to describe the preparation sessions, explains Gérard Vaillant. For him, these are conversations that seem “innocuous” when you look at them from the outside, but which allow you to address intimate issues and anticipate what could happen during the race. The coach wants to make it clear that his support is not therapy.
“I don’t work to repair the faults of the past, I work in the service of a performance of tomorrow, of everyday life and of tomorrow, since suddenly the return of the Vendée Globe is almost tomorrow, it goes quickly, and that The days go by so quickly that there is a need to work on these aspects regularly.”
If fear wasn’t there I would do anything, I would party every night
If he conveys a very serene image, the skipper admits, fear is always with him, but he has made a friend of it.
“I often say that she is a rather turbulent friend, she comes to ring your doorbell at four in the morning while you are sleeping. But fortunately my fear is there, because it allows me to call Gérard if I need to, it allows me to pay close attention to what is happening on board, to prepare well, to stay focused.”
In 2016, during his first Vendée Globe, Eric had a hard time starting the race. He can’t sleep, he goes through difficult emotions and it takes almost 40 days to get back on track. Like all skippers, he films himself every day on board.
After a month of racing, on December 15, he filmed this video in which he leaves himself a message : “Eric, if one day you want to do the Vendée Globe again, I want you to watch this video. Don’t go! Don’t go, it’s too hard.”
Today, the anecdote makes him laugh. He remembers exactly when he shot this video: “I did it a month after leaving, so you have to imagine, I’m in the South Seas, I’m getting a severe jerk off, it’s been a month since I left, and I realize that there are two months left like this, and now, I realize that it’s too long , too hard.”
He even admits that he could do it again. “Of course there are plenty of moments where I’ll say to myself ‘but what are you doing here, Eric?’ but that’s what makes this adventure so beautiful. We wonder what ‘we’re there, and then two days later, we experience extraordinary happiness, an incredible pride that we can’t feel on land, and we know exactly why we’re here.’
Eric Bellion will embark on his second Vendée Globe on November 10
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© Yves Queré
Gérard will follow the adventure from his computer with a little stress each time he opens the map.
“When the boat goes a little slower, because Eric is changing the sail for example, I will wonder what is happening, ask myself questions about what difficulties he is encountering. .. have we worked well, have we prepared well for all the difficulties he will encounter? The answer is necessarily no. But we have worked to ensure that the skills are there. and that the autonomy is there, so I have every confidence in Eric He used the work we did together to level up, to grow, have you seen a little bit of how he grew? jokes Gérard.
Both men smile. They look confident. What is certain is that upon arrival, Eric will have grown even more.
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