At just 23 years old, Violette Dorange is participating in her first Vendée Globe and has broken the record for precocity in the legendary race around the world. At the microphone of RMC Sport, the skipper of the boat Devenir spoke about the transition to 2025 far from her family but with the pride of pursuing her dream alone.
Violette, already, how are you and how is your boat?
I'm doing pretty well. Physically and morally, I am always happy on my boat. And the boat is doing pretty well. In fact these last few days I had a little less wind so that allowed me to do all the repairs. So here I still have 100% of the boat's potential so everything is fine.
So we can see, where exactly are you? And what are the sailing conditions?
There I am in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. In not too long, a day or so, I will pass Point Nemo. It is the furthest point from all civilization. That is to say that we will be further away from civilization than the astronauts who are in the ISS (the international space station). So it's really going to be quite special. And so the Pacific Ocean we are lucky because we have super nice conditions, with very little sea. And wind but it goes quickly as there are very few waves. And around me I see a few competitors from time to time and I have lots of little birds who have followed me since the beginning of the South Seas.
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This is your first Vendée Globe, did you at one point say to yourself: “but what am I doing here”?
Sometimes there are difficult times like in the Indian Ocean. There were times when I was exhausted and scared myself. But at no point did I question doing this race. I knew when I left that I was going to encounter difficult phases and at no time did I say to myself “but what am I doing here?” In those moments when things aren't going well and it's difficult, I tell myself that in a few days things will be better and that's it. But in any case, I have no doubt.
Wasn't it too hard to spend the Christmas holidays away from the family?
It's the first time I'm experiencing Christmas and I'm going to experience the New Year all alone at sea. But on the other hand I'm not at all sad because I receive a lot of love, a lot of attention . For Christmas I received lots of messages, vocals that my family had prepared. Or even in my boat I had hidden gifts so I didn't feel alone. And then I know it's incredible to be here, I tell myself it's crazy to be in this Vendée Globe so I'm really happy to be where I am in any case.
Tomorrow is New Year, are there anything in particular planned?
I think there are going to be some little touches, actually. I haven't discovered them yet because every day I open a bag of food, it's a daily bag, and I think that on Tuesday there will perhaps be a little note hidden inside or a little envelope that my mother prepared me. Or something like that. So I really have little touches but almost every week or every two weeks. So I think for New Years I will have some.
“We’re going to have a nice party when I get back.”
At 23, usually on New Year's Eve we do it with our friends and loved ones. You will be at sea. Do you plan to call your friends?
Yes, we planned that. And then I think we're going to make up for it on the way back, we're going to have a nice party when I get back. So that's why I don't feel like I'm missing out at all. I'm not at all frustrated anyway.
Do you still have a sense of time?
I think I'm a little lost because I only realized on Sunday that it was New Year's Eve. In fact, the days on board go by quite quickly in the end. Every evening I say to myself: 'Oh dear, it's been another day'. So I think I'm losing track of time a little bit.
How special is it for a sailor to spend the New Year alone on his boat in the middle of the ocean?
In fact I remembered that on January 1, 2024, the next day and really the moment I woke up, I told myself that this year was the year of the Vendée Globe. This is a project that I have been preparing for four years. It's a dream, it's really something that has taken up a lot of space in my life. And so, to tell myself that I am here in the middle of the ocean, that the race is going well for the moment, that I have managed to progress during these fifty days… I am just too happy and too proud to Me. So that’s why it’s exceptional. And I tell myself that it's a little extra event on my route because throughout the route there is the passage of capes, the passage of somewhat mythical points like Point Nemo, the furthest point from civilization . But there's also the fact of saying that I've come this far and it's so cool.
For your New Year's menu, is there a dish that you would particularly like?
I think it's something special that was prepared for New Year's Eve, but I have no idea. I don't know what it is at all, it'll be a surprise. Something simple I would say. Something like pasta…yes pasta. Something simple, bolo pasta or something like that.
And is there any attention from particular people that you would like?
I think something of my loved ones, of my family. Have a little note… and I'm already thinking that this Tuesday I'm going to call them. In fact what will be quite funny is that I will be delayed by nine hours. So they will have already been in 2025 since nine o'clock so I will call them in the morning.
We see that you are very present on social networks, is it important for you to share this adventure?
Yes, yes, it's important. In fact, I don't have social networks at sea because I have very little connection and then because I like being cut off from the world in my bubble. But I send all my videos and my team uploads them to social media. And it’s super important for me to share this adventure. We are a bit like human guinea pigs, setting off to face seas which are very little visited and which have been sailed very little. And there you have it, I think it's an experience that is so crazy that we have to share it and try to explain what we're experiencing. And it will make for some very nice memories in any case.
Is this Vendée Globe a childhood dream coming true?
Yes, I think it’s a dream that is coming true. Every day I tell myself that it's incredible, I'm in the Vendée Globe. Every day I hold on to that and also every day I look at the map to see the whole route, all the way, that I have traveled. It's just crazy and it makes me happy every day. Even if it's hard sometimes, I'm so happy to have achieved all this.
You are the youngest in this Vendée Globe, do you realize all the attention around you?
I know that there has been great enthusiasm, my team told me a little about the figures from social networks which have grown enormously and so I know that there has been great enthusiasm. It's a huge pleasure because the objective of the project is also to be able to motivate young people my age to go on adventures, to take on challenges and take on projects.
And that’s why my boat is called Devenir. The idea is to say that we can build ourselves, we can dream, set up our projects. And the key is still to be well supported and to find people you trust. And that comes from finding people you trust. It is also for people like business leaders who can help, they can say to themselves that young people are capable of doing things, that they are full of qualities, so we must support and accompany them.
Comments collected by Léna Marjak
