All this week, Esprit sport is interested in the Vendée Globe, the solo, non-stop sailing trip around the world which started this Sunday (November 10) in Les Sables d’Olonne. 40 sailors, alone on their boat but who have a whole team of people behind them. We are going to discover some of them, as is the case for this third episode, with Marie Lattanzio. She is the wife of skipper Eric Bellion and the director of his Vendee Globe project (Editor’s note: Eric Bellion took the start on his Imoca Stand as one – Altavia)
For four years, together, with a modest team compared to the more renowned skippers, they have been looking for sponsors, engineers, collaborators. And Marie Lattanzio, who is also a young mother, devoted all her time to it. ” Setting up a Vendée Globe project is not trivial when there is no partner knocking on the door. It’s a start-up in a way, it’s all the journey that the entrepreneurs to achieve their goal “
“We have a blank page and there are two of us”
“We have a blank page and there are two of us. And it’s a journey where we are with our little suitcase and where we go looking for money and say: “hello, do you want to believe in our project? “, and then, we surround ourselves with as many people as possible who believe in it, who really embody our values. From the moment we have a first “yes”, everything goes very quickly. We have two, then three, then fifteen today”
“A new boat like ours costs five million euros”
“A new boat like ours costs five million euros. Afterwards, there is an operating budget of around two million euros per year, because we employ a lot of people, because there are a lot of sectors nearby that are concerned.”
“Until Eric’s arrival (at the end of the Vendée Globe), we must continue to raise money because the projects continue for the future, for crisis management which is a big issue for us , it concerns the press as much as communication, as well as the technical team for security. I have my phone on 24/7 every day, it suits me well, it’s a kind of freedom and it works like that.
Things to know about the Vendée Globe
23 ans : The age of Violette Dorange, the youngest participant in the 2024 edition. She is the same age as Alan Roura, when he started his first Vendée Globe in 2016-2017.
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