Around the world as a crew on a flying Ultimate, if we had told you that one day you would do that…
I would have said “go!” » (laughs). I can't believe it, I'm so happy to be there.
We imagine that you had to take tests, do a few trials before being selected?
I came to the selections to be part of the women's crew of the Ocean Fifty at MerConcept, François Gabart's team. I knew that I didn't have much availability but I hoped to be able to do the short race in the Mediterranean and, at my end of selection interview, the famous little five minutes where they tell you if you are selected or not, there to a mediaman who asks me if he can film my interview. There, I tell myself that it's good, I must be taken, they're not going to film me crying if it's not. And, there, Cécile Andrieu, team manager of SVR Lazartigue, tells me that it will be complicated for the Ocean Fifty because I am not very available. There, I said to myself “oh yeah, they’re really going to film me crying”, it was so weird.
And the interview ended like that?
No, right after this interview, François Gabart, accompanied by Tom Laperche, enters the room and says to me: “Okay, listen, we’re going to do the Jules-Verne Trophy this year and we’d love to have you on board.” . There, there is a kind of smile that froze on my face and that didn't leave me for several days.
Did you take some time to think or not?
I didn't expect it at all and I said yes straight away! I admit that I had a little difficulty realizing this.
You say yes but isn’t that a bit dizzying?
The question of whether I was going to be up to it, yes, I ask myself. I'm still a young sailor, I know there are plenty of people who have better CVs than mine. So, I tell myself that I must rise to this enormous challenge. It's a big goal that you want to honor. If I am on board, it is because François is convinced that it is a good balance for our crew, that it is a good configuration to beat the record. I'm holding on to that. I will do my best to, upon arrival, have the feeling of having given everything in terms of skill and energy. And above all, I'm going to take advantage because I'm not sure that this kind of opportunity presents itself several times. The Jules-Verne Trophy is a Holy Grail of ocean racing.
François Gabart, Tom Laperche, Pascal Bidégorry… What is it like to sail with sailors of this caliber?
I am very proud to be with them, we manage to work very well together. Well, it's true that when you join a crew with rock stars, you wonder how you're going to find your place. But it was done very easily because they are rock stars with well-shaped heads: we are all compatible, we collaborate very well.
On board, are you a sailor like any other or are there some gestures towards you?
There is no difference, whether life on board or in the efforts. When it comes to moving a very heavy sail bag, if I'm in an oilskin and I walk through the door saying “I'm going”, no one on board is going to say to me “well no, not, you, you You are the lightest and least strong! » The distribution of tasks is not based on the fact that I am a woman. Concerning life on board, I am not protected any more than the others. When you spend time at sea in a mixed crew, you deconstruct a bit of myths: even on land, I don't spend a lot of time in the bathroom and I don't need a lot of privacy. Conversely, there are very strong guys who need these little moments, much more than me (laughs). I'm not talking about the SVR Lazartigue crew but other crews that I have worked with. All this to say that, man or woman, there is no difference on our boats.
Only one woman, Dona Bertarelli aboard Spindrift, has already completed a Jules-Verne Trophy in 2015 but without breaking the record: becoming the first woman to win this Grail and thus making history, is that a goal?
I have a hard time realizing it. Our presence on board the boats in the Jules-Verne Trophy democratizes the practice for women and I hope that it will help lots of people to plan ahead. In terms of symbolism, if you manage to be the first woman to bring down the Jules-Verne with your crew, that would be a great Christmas present (laughs).
François Gabart believes that there are not enough women on board the Ultimes. Do you see yourself, one day, at the helm of one of these flying machines?
I think it's possible. At the start of the year, when I was taking stock of the projects I would like to carry out, I said to myself why not do an Arkéa Ultim Challenge, a solo round-the-world race. I saw it as a distant dream but, today, with all the hours of sailing that I have spent on SVR Lazartigue around the world, these are dreams that are becoming more real, closer.
