For this All Public Ocean Special, interview on the pontoon of the port of Les Sables d'Olonne with two star skippers of the Vendée Globe, Michel Desjoyeaux and Yves Parlier, two days before the start of this 2024 edition. Michel Desjoyeaux, the only participant to have finished twice winner of the Vendée Globe during the 2000-2001 and 2008-2009 editions, returns to the microphone of Tout Public on what it means to him this experience at sea. “All the moments are a joy: the fact of having lots of people who come to give their support, admiring what these 40 sailors are going to do for three months, with a small part of the unknown… and then often with a part of dream, too, he explains. It's passion first of all, it's human, we talk a lot about technique and all that, but in fact, it's incidental.”
The Vendée Globe is therefore a human adventure, but also a difficult one, made up of shipwrecks and damage. This was the case in 2000 for skipper Yves Parlier, who, when his mast broke, decided to repair it himself, alone, and not to give up. He will thus end up completing the course, arriving 13e of this edition; an episode which marked the history of the Vendée Globe. Yves Parlier remembers this moment when he had to rebuild his mast and straighten it on his boat, “all this with 200 grams of glue and a lot of elbow grease”he said with humor. The sailor's grueling story was also adapted into the TV movie Alonewhere Yves Parlier is played by actor Samuel Le Bihan, broadcast by France TV a few days ago, and available here.
The Vendée Globe is also a source of inspiration on screens, as evidenced by the computer simulation game “Virtual Regatta”, the virtual Vendée Globe race, which has won over a total of 1 million players online. The game even spawned a film, The Valley of Fools by Xavier Beauvois, where Jean-Paul Rouve plays a sailing enthusiast, who decides to complete the Vendée Globe… online, by registering for “Virtual Regatta”. Wanting to experience real racing conditions, he isolated himself for three months on his boat in his garden.
“I think that all sports combined, it's the most beautiful thing. It's going around the world alone, non-stop, without assistance. You have to be an engineer, be a great sailor, be intelligent , be a handyman…”
Xavier Beauvoisfranceinfo
The director also admits to being “totally addicted” in the game for years now. An addictive game, which says a lot about the success of the Vendée Globe with the public.
Finally, how can we talk about sailing without talking about sea songs, which have always accompanied men who take to the sea? It is only natural that Tout Public welcomes the sea shanty group Force 5, which recently became a UNESCO intangible world heritage site. Group members Jean-Marc Pourchasse and Bernard Chotard discuss the origins of sea shanties and their importance in the lives of sailors. “Originally, sea songs helped chase away melancholy at the time when the sailing navy went to sea for a long time, during which time they were separated from their families. It was hard, and the melodies were there to this, to calm melancholy, and also to unite energies and give rhythm to the work”say the singers. Music that has been able to adapt over time, with more modern tunes incorporated into it, explain the two men.
A program with the participation of Catherine Pottier, presenter of the column Au fil de l'eau on franceinfo, and Olivier Emond, head of the ocean, science, environment department at franceinfo.
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