Louis Duc : "No problems only solutions."

For my part, I have been building this project for twenty years. It is one of the races that made me dream the most when I was a kid. I really discovered it by following Alain Gautier during the 1992-1993 edition and especially after, in 1996-1997. I was only thirteen years old but had the comprehension to understand what was happening: the accidents, the huge stories, the images of the sea and the faces of the guys when they arrived back in Les Sables d’Olonne. For me, the Vendée Globe is one of the most extreme things that exist and that is what really made me want to go there. I always said to myself: I have to do it one day. It became a dream and then, over the years, it became a goal. Today, I'm doing it. To be at the start, it's a long journey. It's the culmination of many things. For my part, I haven't won any races but I've done three big ones in the Route du Rhum, English Transats, Transat Jacques Vabre... Finally, I have quite a few miles under my belt and I consider that I have some of the experience to get there and, above all, to enjoy this type of race. For me, the Vendée Globe is an event that you can take on at any time in your life, but the older you get there, the more you enjoy it because it took you a long time to get there. However, we know that anything can happen, that there are many stories that end on the first night. You also have to stay clear-headed and be able to accept that.

That's true. We went back to basics and took everything apart. As it's a somewhat old boat since it was built in 2006, we inevitably had some surprises and found hidden problems. The fact of having started from scratch and having taken everything out of the boat at one point allowed us to start almost from scratch. Of course, I didn't do everything alone. A lot of people worked on the boat but I was there at every stage. That's really important because I chose every part on board.

I like doing things from A to Z. The project for this IMOCA was great because we started with a wreck that we have rebuilt. We had to look for and find solutions. It was complicated to find the budgets. We really did something almost unimaginable. It could have stopped at each stage but we managed to climb all the levels to arrive at today’s result and it’s quite satisfying.

What scares me the most is not making it to the finish. I hope I’m ready to be a little less of a daredevil than usual to try to finish the thing. I would be proudest to return to Les Sables d’Olonne with a boat in good condition.

The most time I’ve spent at sea so far is 25 days. That changes things a bit. I know there will be some shit, it’s mandatory. I hope we’ve prepared the boat well for that. I wouldn’t want to have to stop because of something stupid that we missed. It’s definitely a dream of mine to go sailing for two and a half, three months. It’s something I’ve always been passionate about. I can’t wait to discover the Southern Ocean. I love sailing in difficult conditions, when it’s a bit cold, when you’re downwind in the strong breeze and the sea and the boat is flying in all directions. That’s what I want to see for a month!

During the first three years, we modified the boat a lot to arrive at the platform we dreamed of having with our means. It’s still a daggerboard boat but we wanted to make it as efficient as possible. We arrived at exactly what we wanted. We have a boat with a lot more performance. We lost 500 kilos. We also upgraded the boat to the 2016 rule. We changed a lot of things even if some of them may seem trivial. We also made a lot of changes to the sail plan and it’s paying off. We saw, during The Transat CIC, that there were points of sail where the boat was faster than our neighbours upwind. Of course, not all the time, but on the points of sail where we wanted to go fast. This year, we finished the configuration with new sails and then we focused on reliability. We took all the parts apart one by one to check everything. We added a bit of comfort this summer by putting in a nice seat for when I am on watch and making a fairly comfortable bunk.

Compared to the others, I don't know, but I want to go! I'm really looking forward to discovering everything that awaits me. What scares me are these last few days on land. It might be a bit hard for me because I have trouble experiencing race starts in general. I'm going to experience the starting gun as a liberation.

I have loads! Not very fun things like the misadventures of Thierry Dubois or Raphaël Dinelli, but also great stories. I'm thinking in particular of Christophe Auguin's victory. He led his race masterfully. I also have the image of Alan Roura on the eve of his first Vendée Globe. His boat was in complete kit, with bits on the ground, all over the deck… I thought he wouldn’t get past the Bay of Biscay but in the end he did a great round the world. He sailed in his own way, he did a great trajectory but above all, at the end, he finished with a smile and the desire to go back. At the time, it made me dream!

There are a lot of different things but I would say it was a sail I did in Greenland, with icebergs all around. When I was a kid, what made me dream was seeing images of Alain Gautier in the middle of the ice floes even if I don’t think it made him happy to be there! (Laughs) I also have in mind the English Transat where I finished completely wiped out, but with the feeling of having had a great race, a great journey and a great performance. Generally speaking, finishes are good moments but you have to have suffered a bit beforehand! (Laughs)

The Transat Jacques Vabre 2021 that I raced with Marie Tabarly. The story was crazy. We had launched the boat a bit at the last minute and in the end we did well in terms of performance. For me, it remains an exceptional memory.

A guy like Francis Joyon. He salvages boats and he does great things with them, without spending too much money. It’s a spirit that I really like. I’m a bit like that. In any case, I try to do good things with reasoned projects. I also really appreciate, for the same reasons, sailors like Halvard Mabire or Jean Le Cam.

When I’m not racing a boat, I cruise. I’m happy on the water. I’m also discovering the world of the mountains thanks to the people I met during the Mer Montagne Trophy and I’m passionate about it.

Nothing. I’m quite superstitious, it’s true, but not crazy about it.

To manage to finish it correctly, well placed and with a great story behind me. It's basic but it's my ideal.