Alone: ​​who is Yves Parlier, whose story inspired the TV film with Samuel Le Bihan on France 2?

This Monday, November 4, 2024, France 2 will broadcast Alone with Samuel Le Bihan. A TV film inspired by the story of Yves Parlier, a sailor who experienced difficulties during the Vendée Globe race in 2000.

This evening, France 2 plunges its viewers into the heart of an extraordinary human adventure with Alonea TV film directed by Pierre Isoard. The film retraces the crazy epic of Yves Parlier during the 2000 edition of the Vendée Globe. Samuel Le Bihan, who lends his features to the navigator, has invested body and soul in this role, even losing ten kilos to embody the extreme rigor of life at sea. The actor also stepped up his sailing training to master every necessary move, confident he knew every line by heart to be ready to shoot any scene at any time. To reinforce the authenticity of the story, Yves Parlier waited until the end of filming before viewing the film and even validated, not without emotion, the final result as Samuel Le Bihan confided during a newspaper interview The Sands this Sunday, November 3, 2024: “We met after the movie! He let us do everything and then he saw if he liked it or not. He really liked and validated the film, so that was a win.”

Alone: ​​Yves Parlier’s beautiful proof of courage during the Vendée Globe

Yves Parlier, a talented engineer and passionate sailor, was born in 1960 in the Paris region, but his destiny would take him to the oceans. His interest in the world of the sea began in the 1980s and, in 1985, he stood out with his first participation in the mini-transat. Over the years, he achieved success in prestigious races, notably winning the Transat Jacques Vabre, the Route du Rhum and the Solitaire du Figaro, quickly climbing the ranks of international competitions.

In November 2000, it was with solid experience that he set off for his third Vendée Globe. But off the coast of the Kerguelen Islands, a violent storm breaks the mast of his boat into three pieces. This passionate engineer uses the means on board to rebuild a makeshift mast, categorically refusing any outside help, at the risk of being disqualified. Yves Parlier managed to resume the race ten days after the incident, weakened but determined. He will finish this exhausting race in 13th place, after having fought against hunger by partially feeding on algae.