Vendée Globe

"It was fairly tough for the last three days with some strong winds, 35-40 knots gusting to 50 knots in squalls, but above all some rough seas with 7-8 metre high waves with the seas on the beam and the boat doesn’t really like that. After 89 days at sea, the boat and skipper were both a bit tired and finishing like that was a bit tough. The hardest part was the climb back up the Atlantic, because the conditions weren’t always kind to me and I found it a bit long at times. When journalists kept asking me about how I felt finishing second, I couldn’t say as I was busy dealing with the rough conditions. I didn’t have time for anything else. It was only this morning about twenty miles from the finish that I began to think about it when I started to see a lot of fishing boats from Les Sables."

"The start of the race went very quickly as there were ten of us battling it out on the way down. As we were so close, time just slipped by. I soon found myself in the southern ocean and had to concentrate on that. I played it cautiously, always keeping an eye on the equipment, going more slowly than I could have. So it was only the climb back up the Atlantic where I found it a bit long at times."

"At the time of the first Vendée Globe, I don’t think I really wanted to sail around the world. Those people were my heroes, but I couldn’t imagine myself doing that. I started on an Optimist in St Pol de Léon and so I could only admire those legends. Now I’m a round the world sailor, but that desire came later, when I had acquired some experience. After the Figaro I did the Transat, and then I wondered what to do next, so thought of the Vendée Globe…"

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