The Vendée Globe arrivals capture attention: joyful information in these troubled times. Sailors have become super-communicators, every day we follow their lead from our comfortable sofa as they face storms and big swells, wind or calm. Is this modern sport still the same as the first transatlantic races? Doesn’t this constant communication reduce the scope of the challenge?
Nostalgic people will tell you that everything has changed and that the spirit of adventure is no longer that of yesterday’s pioneers who set off into the unknown. To those, I suggest taking to the sea and heading towards the southern seas, they will see that you have to be damn courageous, incredibly balanced and strong in your head and in your body to make such a world tour. For all the others, sportspeople like me, this Vendée Globe questions us and the quasi-live allows us to maintain tension, permanent questioning… and perhaps some lessons.
The mirror of the qualities of today’s man
These skippers are mirrors of the qualities of today’s man: tenacity and courage, know-how and technicality, knowledge and love of nature, decision and responsibility, teamwork and the strength of the solitary and many others. other virtues. We would not have the knowledge and measurement of all these qualities without regular communication, without these media which are too often criticized and which are so useful when used well. Companies and communities are not mistaken, and how many sailors (captains, etc.) who have returned to shore speak to the general public to tell their adventures and, above all, share their convictions. The conferences they give are always a great success and they have positive consequences on the audiences who listen to them. Everyone, at their own level, can become, in their image, a more invested actor, a professional or a tenacious and daring volunteer.
Our loners demonstrate their sense of responsibility for themselves and for those around them and their fans.
Let’s take a look at the daily testimonies of our solitaires, what they prove in their audio or video sessions. Tenacity and courage: to climb to the top of a mast in the open sea, to resist waiting in a sea of oil or to sail in immense waves, exceeding seven meters, you must have real moral qualities to hold out for more than two months alone on a boat. Know-how and technicality: the cockpit looks more like that of an airplane than that of Columbus’ caravels, our sailors are involved in the design of their boat as in complex piloting, they take their time to improve performance but let’s not forget that they are in an unchanged nature and face the same risks. Knowledge and love of this nature: what beautiful images they share with us! Raising awareness of respect for the seas requires ambassadors who are involved and listened to: they are.
-Decision and responsibility, teamwork and the strength of the solo sailor, it may seem paradoxical that a solo sailor speaks regularly with his team on land. Teamwork is rich and creates real solidarity, real friendships. In the Vendée Globe, as in everyday life, the ultimate decisions are made alone with the support of loved ones and colleagues. Our loners demonstrate their sense of responsibility for themselves and for those around them and their fans.
Thanks to the media
Should we communicate, should we feed social networks and keep the race alive on a day-to-day basis? The answer is resolutely positive, we demonstrate it with this sharing of values which makes the sailors of tomorrow dream and also so many young people who thirst for adventure, at their level, according to their skills. Charlie Dalin, as elsewhere Léon Marchand, Cassandre Beaugrand, Antoine Dupont and so many other great athletes give an example of work, perseverance, and team cohesion that we would not know without this digital communication.
Sharing the human values of a few is a way of helping many others grow.
Our world has changed so much, our communication too and its abuses are often denounced, that’s good, and we must certainly fight against all misuses of the media, addictions, abuses. They are also the support of human values. The forty solo sailors who left Les Sables-d’Olonne on November 10th make us dream with their commitment. Sharing the human values of a few is a way of helping many others grow.
