Vendée Globe. “In my boat, there is a ghost that has bitten my fangs! », says Jean Le Cam [Vidéo]

For years, you have been repeating that at sea, when you don't know where to go, you have to go west: and you took an eastern option…

I left to the east because I didn't see a very clear situation to the west: there was a barrier on the road while on this side, to the east, there was a north to north wind. northeast. My routings told me to go that way but I saw everyone going the other way. I left under spinnaker towards Madeira, I didn't do it half-heartedly. And I'm very happy to be where I am.

Jean Le Cam leads the Vendée Globe after a week of racing: if we had told you that before the start…

I would have thought that this was not necessarily obvious! Out of 40 boats, there are still some that, in the conditions we have, are quite fast. I didn't think I would be at the front in this part of the race. This Monday, I just touched up some air, I'm walking well.

There is a prohibited zone off the coast of Mauritania, in particular because of acts of piracy: do pirates scare you?

No, I'm not afraid of pirates because I'm 200 miles from the coast. I think the pirates are closer to the coast. A year ago, as a crew, we passed closer than my current position, and we hadn't seen any pirates. On the other hand, between me and Africa, there is maritime traffic.

What's this story about a ghost on board hiding your stuff?

My boat “It all begins in Finistère – Armor Lux” is said to be haunted by a ghost. I lost my fangs four days ago. On board, I have 30 bags and as soon as I open one, I look to see if there are my fangs in it (laughs). Some bags, I opened them four times, I looked around the engine… I checked everywhere and I can't find it, so I think there's a ghost that bit my fangs.