Violette Dorange: “I have always told myself that the Vendée Globe was for me”

I don’t know yet if I am capable of it (laughs)! I know that I have always told myself that it was for me. Since I was little, I went to see the starts, the ascent of the Les Sables channel. To be in their place one day, heading out to do the race, has always been a life goal. At the end of my first Solitaire du Figaro in 2020, I felt that the window of opportunity was good now and that there could be an opportunity. It was really from there that I took on the challenge of doing it, and since I don't like to give up on a challenge, here I am today. 

It has indeed been a long journey! We've been looking for partners for four years. You have to know that in January, we were still missing more than half of the budget. We launched many calls out on the social networks, we went to meet almost all the McDonald's franchisees in France, I have other partners too, two patrons, but it took sucha lot of energy but it allowed us to engage more and more people in the adventure, and to really validate my participation, even if we are still very tight for money and we always had to find smart solutions with this financial constraint. So, I have only been in pure "skipper mode" since April, which is really late in the day! I would have liked to do more on my boat but we can't be everywhere. 

It is true that before the start of the transatlantic races, double-handed and especially solo, I was under pressure, especially in relation to the qualification. I wanted to finish them, and I was always afraid of the state of the boat at the finish. It's a bit different here. There are days when I'm right into it I'm busy as there have been so many things to prepare, I don't have time to think. And then other days when I'm under pressure, the stress has come in waves. But I have a great team that I can rely on, who protect me a lot so that I don't lose too much energy. 

The big south, like everyone else I think (laughs)? The duration of the race also but in the end it scares me less and less. And then especially the repairs. Will I be able to fix stuff? That's really what I have had to work on a lot! My team prepared a lot of learning sessions for me. Like I had to learn to change the engine alternator. The problem is that I always lack time, but I try to get my hands dirty as much as possible. 

To finish. And to be as happy as possible at sea. But I think that if the first is fulfilled, the second will inevitably follow. 

It is an incredible boat, it is crazy. I don't know how to explain it, but I feel so confident when I am on board. And then its track record is amazing: it won the Vendée Globe with Michel Desjoyaux in 2008, after that it was in the hands of Jérémie Beyou, and then after that it became the "Hubert" by Jean Le Cam, finished 6th in the Vendée Globe in 2016, 4th in 2020… I have the impression that she already knows how to do everything, and that I just have to get into her rhythm! 

Of course! Jean is always there to help me and support me, as soon as I have a technical question I don't hesitate to ask him, he knows his boat so well, it's easy for him. And then, maybe he doesn't fully realize it, but he also helps me a lot mentally, as soon as I see him I feel like I'm picking up snippets, bits of info that will help me during my race. 

Well, I would answer you with a sentence from Jean (Le Cam, editor's note) precisely. "In any case, the Vendée Globe is the unknown even when you've done it several times, so in the end we're all pretty much equal". I think about that often. And then, age is just a number! In the end, I've had sporting projects like this for several years now, even if it's a major change in scale, the logic remains the same, and I try to experience it in the same way. 

It's hard to choose! So I'll tell you two: first the launch, because it was a bit like the culmination of so many things. And then last year, the departure from Martinique for the Return to Base. It was my first solo sail on the boat, my first solo transatlantic since my MiniTransat, with twelve more meters of hull. It was magical.