In Welcome to the club, this Monday, November 4, look back at the HAC victory against Montpellier. Charlie Dalin is also our guest, less than a week before the start of the Vendée Globe. Focus also on Régis Brouard and Alpine, in Normandy sports news.
“Welcome to the club” returns this Monday, November 4 to the HAC victory against Montpellier, this Sunday, at the Océane stadium. In front of more than 18,000 supporters, the HAC won the match of fear against the bottom Montpellier, and slightly distanced the Héraultais in the standings, thanks to a new penalty signed Abdoulaye Touré.
At the end of the program, focus on the new coach of FC Rouen, Régis Brouard, who hosted his first training session this afternoon in the red and white colors. The club justifies its nomination in the show. Also a look back at Alpine's performance, double podium achieved last night during the Brazilian Grand Prix, with Esteban Ocon's second place and Pierre Gasly's third, unheard of for 27 years.
Our guest this evening is Charlie Dalin, the Le Havre skipper is aiming for victory in the Vendée Globe, after finishing second four years ago, despite crossing the finish line first. His interview can be listened to again, or read here.
Charlie Dalin, you came first in the last Vendée Globe and you were reclassified second in the compensation game. Does it still work for you? Does this feed a form of revenge?
It's true that in the months following the arrival of the first Vendée, as soon as I woke up at night, I would race again, to see where I had lost. This is revenge for the race, not for Yannick Bestaven, who ultimately won. I've been thinking about this Vendée Globe since the last one arrived.
For four years, with the objective of remaining among the best?
I'm passionate about boats and ocean racing so I love competition too. I have always wanted to do this Vendée Globe again. I am also lucky to have a good team around me with whom we designed this new Macif which we launched a little over a year ago. It's true that in the end, the 2020 Vendée Globe was only my second solo offshore race in an Imoca. I was a little young in my solo experience. This is going to be an edition of the Vendée Globe which will surely be very competitive this year.
You have a track record on this new boat, there is the 48 hours Azimut, the Transat New York Vendée, there is the Rolex Fastnet last year. Would you say today that this new boat, despite the absence of the Jacques-Vabre, you know it by heart?
Yes. There are actually two races in which I did not participate at the end of last year which modified the preparation, but I did two solo transatlantic races between France and the United States in the spring, we had a lot of fun trained. I know this boat very well. We have already evolved it several times. It’s a boat made for the Vendée Globe.
How is it made for?
We used weather statistics to design the shape of the hull. We adapted it to the requirements of the course. We made a boat that is easy to live with inside, which is made for the solo sailor. Two of us are almost too many.
There is the boat, but there is also you, you are going to wear a hard helmet, can you explain to us why?
There's a lot of movement, the boats are faster. I had a concussion last year, in May, in the middle of the Atlantic. It was a little scary, because I have amnesia from this event. We did not know the severity of the concussion. This got me thinking. Before, I had a rugby helmet, now it's a hard helmet. I also have seat belts on board, like for cars, at one point we added the belts because things were going too fast. On sailing, it's the same.
How do you plan to leave on Sunday?
It's been eight years since there was a departure from Vendée with people. There will be people on land and at sea. The conditions will be good, people will go out with us. This starting phase will have to go well, it's a day when we have everything to lose. It's a day that can be complicated.
Listen in full in the show
