Sailing. Skipper Kito de Pavant launches the Med Max, a race in the Mediterranean, “one of the most capricious seas in the world, a sailor’s nightmare”

The start (to be followed live on our site) of the Med Max double-handed transatlantic race will be given on Sunday, September 29 at 1 p.m. from Grau du Roi – Port Camargue (Gard), heading for Saïda in Morocco. 27 crews in multihulls and monohulls will be on the starting line. Skipper Kito de Pavant is at the origin of this new race.

The Transmed, the Triangle du Soleil, the Porquerolles Solo, Cap Istanbul, the Med Max is not the first transatlantic race in the Mediterranean, but there was a real lack for all lovers of sailing races. No IMOCA or Ultims but Class40 and Ocean fifty, more affordable financially.

The Med Max is full with 27 boats at the start. And some big names like Yann Eliès, triple winner of the Transat Jacques Vabre. The start (to follow live on our site) of the double-handed transat Med Max will be given on Sunday September 29 at 1 p.m. from Grau du Roi – Port Camargue (Gard), heading for Saïda in Morocco. Arrival expected from October 4 after five days of racing.

A first success for Kito de Pavant, the organizer who wanted to break the codes.

Interview.

The Genesis

Kito de Pavant, what is the genesis of Med Max?

The genesis is quite simple. We have a playground, the Mediterranean, which is fantastic. With water, islands, wind and incredible maritime stories for several centuries. And on the other side, an offshore race that has been concentrated for several decades in Brittany and I have always felt that there was room to do something interesting and sustainable in this Mediterranean.

I had the chance to participate 40 years ago in the Transmed (La Grande-Motte – Alexandria round trip). And since then there has been a bit of frustration.

Is sailing the Mediterranean too easy?

That’s not it at all. In the Mediterranean, we have the most praised places in europe. And in our region with Cape Bear or Cape Creus and the tramontane which rages on our coasts. For us, sailors, who sail offshore, we quickly realize that it is a rather difficult sea which is a bit boat-breaking.

This Mediterranean is quite capricious. It is both what we love and what we hate the most.

The first particularity of the Mediterranean is that it is surrounded by relief, mountains, more or less high islands which disturb the wind enormously and it is particularly interesting. Finally, this Mediterranean is rather capricious. It is at the same time what we love and what we hate the most.

27 boats

How to attract Breton skippers?

It was a gamble and one of the great difficulties of the Med Max project. This gamble has been successful today since we have 27 boats registered.

You chose the double race. Why?

It is true that in France, solo sailing is very developed and it has a lot of media success. But the Mediterranean is so capricious that solo sailing is quite perilous and so I find that it is not not very sensible to race alone in the Mediterranean especially with the boats that will be present at Port Camargue.

Two courses

What are the routes?

The course has changed quite a bit since the beginning of the project. At the beginning, it was much longer, we were going to go around islands in Greece and then finally, we came back to a slightly shorter course with the objective of having two categories of monohull and multihull boats arrive at approximately the same time in Morocco.

This forced us to imagine two courses, because The boats are not going at the same speed. Multihulls are faster than monohulls, but all the boats will leave at the same time. The first buoy of the course will be the passage in front of the sea theater in Sète. Then all the boats will head towards the mouths of Bonifacio between Corsica and Sardinia. Then, the two fleets will separate.

Our aim was to offer very simple and very fast boats with limited costs.

Class 40 and Ocean 50

Two categories of boats will participate in the race: the Class 40 and the Ocean 50.

Our aim was to offer very simple and very fast boats with limited costs. These are boats that are developing a lot and that remain affordable. These are boats that have difficulty withstanding competition in major races such as the IMOCAs and the Ultims. So this is an opportunity to highlight them.

You are breaking the rules by not asking for a registration fee. Why?

For a 1^era edition and to bring the competitors down to Port Camargue, it was necessary to have some arguments.

I am first and foremost a skipper and I know that there are some dysfunctions in ocean racing, particularly inflation on registration fees. You should know that for the Route du Rhum, they are at least 12,000 euros and it can go up to 100,000 euros for the Ultims. It’s colossal for sailors who already have trouble balancing their budget. I always think that on the races, we should invite the racers. So we give them these registration fees as a gift, it’s a big plus for them and we have race bonuses that are quite significant: 50,000 euros per class will be redistributed.

Living together

Is it difficult to ride this type of race today?

Yes, it is very difficult, very ambitious. It is certain that we will lose a little money for this 1^era edition, but the ambition is to build. We hope that in 50 years, the Med max will be completely part of the landscape of offshore racing at the international level.

It’s the beginning, it’s difficult. In 2024, there is a recession in Europe. Very worrying geopolitical problems, moreover it is part of the objectives that we set ourselves: to try to create a link between France and Morocco, between the countries of the Mediterranean. It is not easy to live together. There are many things to do. Create a link between these countries that have the need to live together.

I have always believed that sport and culture help to soften this brutal world in which we live.

You carry a message of tolerance and openness.

Today, tolerance is almost a dirty word. We can no longer stand our neighbors, there are unheard-of problems of violence in our society and I have always considered that sport and culture allow us to soften this brutal world in which we live. It may be completely utopian, but I believe a lot in these virtues of sport to try to create things together and build bridges between certain countries.

Are you planning for the long term?

The basic idea was to make a race between the three continents that border the Mediterranean: Europe, Africa and Asia. It will take time, we have to convince because it would take longer. It will settle in over time

The arrival of the Med Max will take place in Morocco, a sailing country?

Not at all. And yet, it is a large maritime country, bordered by the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. In Morocco, there are only seven sailing clubs. They have started the creation of some marinas, like in Saida, capable of accommodating a few thousand boats. It is a developing sport, there are few people who sail and this is perhaps the beginning of a new story for this sport in Morocco.