Jean Le Cam: "There is joy of course!"

IThere is joy of course, especially over these last few hours. Yesterday, it was still a fight, I was side by side with Conrad (Colman) but it ended well for us! I was happy to come out ahead in the end.

Up until Cape Horn and going up the ZEA (Antarctic exclusion zone), it was perfect. After that, the curtain fell. Several curtains have fallen in fact.  It's true that it was a special Vendée, especially the two Atlantic passages on the way there and back. It wasn't easy for me, even if the outward journey was lighter than the return. But I'm very happy that it's over!

I don't hide much! But if I hid them, it was for a good reason, so I won't tell you! I tried to share my emotional moments, I think that's also what the Vendée Globe is about, it's not just going faster than the other! The boat is spotless, apart from the forestay which forced me to do some fixing... When the technical stuff fixing stuff starts to bore us, it gets to our heads, it occupies part of our minds, and we ignore the rest, and that's dangerous and that's how we forget the essentials.

J’avais oublié le scotch, c’est dingue ça (rires) ! J’ai dû remonter parce que j’avais oublié le scotch. Ça c’est un bon exemple, tu te dis tout le temps « Jean n’oublie pas le scotch », et t’arrives en haut, t’avais pas envie d’y aller, mais en plus t’as oublié le scotch... Ah si, un truc que je ne vous ai pas dit, t’es là-haut, t’as oublié ton scotch, tu redescends, t’ouvres le sac que t’avais avec toi… et en fait il y avait un rouleau de scotch (rires) ! Ça arrive souvent, t’es persuadé d’un truc, tu te dis « t’es qu’un con », et puis en fait pas tant que ça. Mais ça arrive tous les jours à tout le monde, juste sur le Vendée Globe c’est un peu plus souvent. 

We went down the mid Atlantic  and were weak, slower than the foilers that's for sure, plus in the calm when they were at 25 knots. I think we have a real technological frontier. Today the foilers have proven that they are capable of going fast in tough conditions, they have proven their reliability, they have broken all the records, you can't argue against boats like that.

The return climb up the Atlantic hurt! I still had a 1000 mile lead at Cape Horn, I was quite happy, and it ended up being a complete mess... That wasn't great! The Pacific had been quite calm for us. But I'm arriving fresher than the last Vendée Globe! The last one, with the broken boat, was still very very hard. The last few days weren't very comfortable, fortunately we had a night with the moon which reconciles you with life...

Every time it's the same, anyone who says they've not had enough of a Vendée Globe, are liars back on land because it's true that it's good when it is over too! When you have to go to the top of the mast three times, there is not much to be happy about! You're in extreme situations where you have to cope. But you're happy once you're done.

We've just finished... But what's certain is that we'll continue to share. I don't like the word transmission as it is only one way. Sharing is two-way. Benjamin (Ferré) and Violette (Dorange), they have brought me a freshness, all the new things, the way you approach problems and subjects. It makes you age a little less quickly!