Vendée Globe 2024. “I was the most motivated of the whole squad”, Titouan Lamazou will forever remain the first winner of the race

Titouan Lamazou won the very first edition of the Vendée Globe in 1990, on his boat Écureuil d’Aquitaine II. 34 years and 10 editions later, he returns to Les Sables d’Olonne. The opportunity for this artist, who became a sailor, to talk about his success, but also to present his new exhibition.

Hat screwed on his head, cigarette in hand, he descends onto the pontoon. “Look, it’s Titouan Lamazou! “, whispers a tourist to his wife. It must be said that here, in Les Sables d’Olonne, the artist-navigator, now 69 years old, is a rockstar.

Winner of the very first Vendée Globe in 1990 at the helm of Écureuil d’Aquitaine II, the sailor, born in 1955 in Casablanca, made the history of solo sailing racing.

A legend that begins in Aquitaine. At the time, supported in his Vendée Globe project by the region, Titouan Lamazou was approached by Jacques Chaban-Delmas and Alain Juppé.

They both told me: we really want a Béarnais to go fooling around the world, we are very proud, but it has to be on board a product from Aquitaine.

Titouan Lamazou

First winner of the Vendée Globe

At the time, there were no yards there capable of building a racing boat. The navigator will then bring in people from Vendée and Charentais to create it from scratch.

This is how Écureuil d’Aquitaine, then Écureuil d’Aquitaine II, will be produced. A racing ship, built to brave the harshest seas.

Titouan Lamazou and his ship set off from Les Sables d’Olonne in 1989, for the first edition of the Vendée Globe. 109 days later, they won the first edition of this solo sailing race around the globe.

“Jwas the most motivated, that I’m sure of, he analyzes 34 years later. That’s why I won the Vendée Globe, because I was the most motivated of the whole squad.”

A motivation that will not stop there. In 1991, the sailor and his boat won the Route du Rhum. The skipper then becomes world ocean racing champion.

“For me, a boat is a tool”

Then sold to recover its owner’s debts, Écureuil d’Aquitaine II went on to compete in races and skippers, before disappearing from the radar.

In 2019, he was found in poor condition in Venezuela. Four years later, he was brought back to Vendée by the Sablais notary Alexandre Treillard.

Renovated and renamed T One One, it is now open to the public. For the occasion, its first sailor is back on board.

“I had always forbidden myself to have a relationship sentimental with a boat, for me a boat is a tool, confides Titouan Lamazou. Obviously, you can’t help but get attached to it, but at that time, I was owner of this ship, but above all I was the owner of its debts.”

After his world champion title and a short career as an “ocean racer”, he returned to his lifelong passion: painting.

Through his travels and his meetings, the artist will create numerous paintings and exhibit them. For the 10th edition of the Vendée Globe, at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Les Sables d’Olonne, he is in the spotlight with his new exhibition entitled: “Under the Stars”.

A mixture of colorful and dreamlike paintings, which pays homage to the fragile ecosystem of our planet.

“LThe message is to try to contribute so that people become aware of the tiny habitat we inhabit, of the marvelousness of this habitat, which I call paradise on Earth, concludes Titouan Lamazou. He is unique in the entire universe that we know, and it would still be more judicious to preserve it, rather than trying, like some, to go and live on Mars.”

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