Thomas Ruyant: "I'm not saying that I'm going to win, but I know that I can."

"Last time, I had a very good boat but it was a design which we modified and updated and which was therefore not made for me, not designed and built to the way I sail and my experience Starting this time with the boat that I want changes a lot the way in which I approach things. VULNERABLE is an IMOCA is very particular boat, a little different, which is suited to me well and I think it is quite specific to this race as well. It is more pleasant to sail. So I'm setting off with a lot of desire. I'm really looking forward to being out there and racing. I know I'm going to have some fun with this boat. It is reassuring for me and I am very ambitious. Clearly, I want to race up at the front of the pack.”

"My team hasn't changed much but it has grown a bit and it has progressed with me. Today, everything is in place: we have the right boat, the right team and a have great partner. I'm going to the start of the race in the best possible shape. So I'm calm. Not calm on a sporting level because there's huge competition, but calm in the way I approach things."

"For sure. I know what I'm capable of and I know that I'm one of the favourites. It's a status that suits me well and that I obviously have worked up to. I wouldn't be happy if I wasn’t among the favourites (Laughs) There have been some very good results with this boat and there have been others that are a little less good, but I also know why. I know that it's a boat that can win the Vendée Globe, even if there are plenty of others. Over the last four years, my team and I have worked hard. We have done quite a few races as a crew and then as a double-handed racer. We have continued to learn these machines. We have understood how they work and how to use them. We have also gotten used to them, and I think that was a big point. It's not so easy to go so fast with these monohulls. We are starting to get there. To have put it all in place technically but also mentally is key. It's a big difference compared to the last Vendée Globe.” 

"We have to be careful when you talk about two Vendée Globes for me. They are actually two starts. I would also like to point out that all round the world races, which ultimately only take place every four years, are very different. Having already completed one allows me to know well the Big South a little. It also takes the pressure off me to absolutely finish."

"I often talk about the Défi Azimut in which I took part just a few days after my previous boat was launched. During the races, with the team, we clearly asked ourselves what kind of machine we had made. We wondered whether we had made a mistake, whether we were being too extreme, whether it was really a Vendée Globe boat. Today, six years later, we are not asking these questions After many miles training and then in racing, we can master these boats solo. This is all the more true since many things have evolved, starting with the pilots, the structure, data collection and use… everything is quite complex, however. With this type of machine, we are constantly on the edge but the fact is that we have made a lot of progress."

"It's across the board and that's what we just talked about: the team, having sailed for six years on foilers but also the fact of having a boat that is designed for and fits me. It is the result of a great collaboration between our teams, those of Antoine Koch and Finot Conq. It has a very different design compared to the others. It is perhaps a little less aggressive and lighter. It is less hard too. It goes well in the bigger seas. I think we understood what we had to do."

"Getting carried away with a boat like this. I will have to keep control of the machine so as not to make any mistakes.”

“It is recalling a few days that I was able to experience in the Big South, during my first participation in 2016-2017. I really felt the power of the southern ocean. It wasn’t violent but there was a big swell. I felt like it was coming from far away. I didn’t experience that again in 2020-2021 but I would like to rediscover that feeling of being a little tiny speck on the ocean. That’s the very personal image but I actually have loads of images of the Vendée Globe. I’m thinking in particular of the matches between Armel Le Cléac’h and Alex Thomson or between Jean Le Cam and Vincent Riou. These sporting moments are crazy! I also have good memories of my last round the world trip, even if it was a bit of a hasty race since the breakage happened very quickly and I was therefore unable to use my boat as I wanted. I am thinking in particular of the passage through the Le Maire Strait. It is quite rare to go through that. It was quite a big moment for me, coming out of the Big South, to find myself with Ushuaïa on one side and the Staten Island on the other, on a calm sea, with 12-15 knots of wind and sunshine. "

"The descent of the Atlantic as part of the Vendée Globe 2020-2021. After ten days of racing, off the coast of Brazil, Alex Thomson had a good lead but I came back and took the lead. The boat is magical and the conditions are perfect. I felt so good on board. "

“The victory with Momo (Morgan Lagravière) in the Transat Jacques Vabre – Normandie Le Havre 2023. It remains a great moment. The same goes for the 24-hour record. It’s something I really had in my sights, and have had for a long time. We had already tried to go and get it with the team on the way back from transatlantic crossings or after pit stops in the Azores. We know that our boats are capable of going really fast - very fast even - over 24 hours, but the difficulty is really having the right conditions for that. It was great." 

"I want to be happy with my race, to give it my all, to come back from this Vendée Globe satisfied, but clearly, if we're talking about a slightly crazy dream, it's obviously to arrive in the lead in the Sables d'Olonne channel. I'm not saying that I'm going to win, but I know that I can and I have everything to achieve it. However, it's still the Vendée Globe, a race apart and during which a lot of things can happen."

"I spent a lot of time with Morgan Lagravière. I love sailing with him. He has an excellent feel. I also really like Adrien Hardy for his approach. An éxtremist’ approach that I find interesting."

“Sailing! (Laughs) This summer, I spent five weeks on holiday on the sea. Cruising and ocean racing are different worlds. Aboard my floating caravan, I fish, I anchor, I walk around the islands and I spend time with my children. I also love water sports like surfing and wing foiling. I also love mountain sports even if I don't do them enough!"

“I try not to forget my boots! (Laughs) I'm not superstitious. However, I always take photos of my children. They are the ones I miss when I am racing.”