Tanguy Le Turquais : "I need to share my story, my joy at being on the ocean."

I literally have anxiety attacks every evening (laughs)! But I recently watched a report on the 2016 Vendée Globe and I told myself that I am incredibly lucky. I feel so grateful, extremely privileged and the closer it gets, the stronger this feeling is. Every morning, I have this feeling of gratitude.

Maybe it was a kick up the butt. I was very happy for her but it inevitably generated a lot of frustration in me. It may have given me the energy to move and get myself going. But I also think that the most significant gain is to realise the difficulty and stress to loved ones who stay on land. In a way, it allows me to understand better what families feel.

Yes, I grew up on a boat from the age of 7 to 18 but we never really went so far. We stayed in the surrounding area, in the Bay of Biscay, the Isles of Scilly, Cape Finisterre. It made me want to explore, as if it were a dream builder. I wasn’t frustrated, but I wanted bigger, faster boats, to go further, to see other sailing areas. And that’s why I wanted to compete in the Mini-Transat.

It’s true that I’m happy at sea and happy on a boat. I can be there for a long time. It’s everyday life like in a house. I don’t really have any apprehension about being there. I have my bearings there, I feel good there. But that doesn’t stop me from being sick sometimes!

I have a bit of a thing about the selfish pleasure of ocean racing where I have to ask a lot of people to  push themselves so that I can go sailing. The need to share my happiness with as many people as possible is perhaps a way of easing my conscience. I have always wanted my projects not to be just for me, that they be shared. I often think of the film ‘Into the Wild’: it’s a man who sets off alone but who at the end understands that real happiness is above all the happiness that we share.

It’s a great opportunity to compete in the Vendée Globe and there was no question of keeping it to myself. Allowing Lazare to benefit from this adventure brings my project to life. The association needs visibility in order to help as many people as possible get off the streets. Achieving media coverage for this organisation makes me proud. And with hindsight, between the association and me, I don't really know who contributed the most to the other!
 

Yes, for sure. But to be honest the guy I was two or three years ago was not capable of doing the Vendée Globe. I don’t see what I endured as an ordeal but as an opportunity. It allowed me to strengthen myself, to toughen up and to be more even more resilient. These ordeals you overcome help to build confidence. And now, I’m ready to face whatever the Vendée Globe has in store.

Of course, I’m going racing for the competition. To exceed myself, to go all out, that’s what drives me! I’m aware of my strengths and weaknesses. I think I have a good boat to finish the Vendée Globe. And then I hope to be one of the leaders of the battle between daggerboard boats and why not aim for a podium?

It worries me and the closer we get, the more it worries me! In my head, I first project myself to Cape Verde. I want to take the race step by step and if it goes well, there will be a time when I will be down there in the Southern Ocean!

I realize that I do not feel the stress during the day. It happens especially in the evening before going to sleep, in this in-between time between being still awake and sleeping. I am no longer really lucid and I have these anxieties, these nightmares that are always problems for Mathilda (Editor's note: her daughter) and Clarisse. I do not really know how to manage them, except by focusing every day on my goals and accepting that they can happen.

I sincerely believe that this is the hardest part of the project. In recent months, we have done everything to enjoy ourselves with Mathilda and Clarisse. I wanted to "feed on them" as much as possible. This Vendée Globe is a wonderful gift, I want to enjoy it to the fullest. As in my previous races, I hope that I will be able to put myself in a bubble so as not to be in a difficult situation because of the distance.
 
 

Yes, I think about it a lot. The fact that Tanguy finishes 5th or 25th, no one cares. On the other hand, we will focus more on the way we tell this story. I do not have a winning project so the energy that I will not put into doing everything to win, I will put into my ability to tell. I want to maintain my spontaneity, not script, to be without a filter. It doesn't change much in the end. Telling the real story is a bit of our trademark with Clarisse!