Volvo Ocean Race - Yann Riou, getting you up close and personal

by Dongfeng Race Team on 26 Sep 2014 Meet the man charged with the task of getting you up close and personal in the upcoming Volvo Ocean race.

There is only so much storytelling that can be done from on land. We can imagine what it’s like onboard, we can Google synonyms and write emotive sentences about the team we know so well, but we know we’re not even scratching the surface as far as telling the real story is concerned.

This is where Yann Riou comes in.

Name: Yann Riou
Chinese name: ?•??
Nationality: French (but amazingly speaks fluent English and Danish with a bit of Spanish!)
Date of birth: 20.02.1974
Place of birth: L’Union, France, grew up in Brittany
Hometown: Alicante, Spain where he lives with his wife and newborn daughter

The story of racing around the world cannot be told easily, but it cannot be told at all without an incredible onboard reporter. Our objective is to share every heartache, every joy and every moment with our audience back on land, and this is how we’re doing it.

As it stands we have two crucial tools in place to share our team’s story far and wide.

One, is the magnificent Volvo Ocean 65 which has been built with five fixed onboard cameras and an Inmarsat satellite connection – not quite as solid or fast as the broadband connection you might be used to home – its still very difficult to maintain a connection on a boat being thrown around the sea. But enough to allow us to share life onboard via video conference streaming, video clips sent back, photos and phone calls.

The second is Yann Riou, our Onboard Reporter (aka the OBR). The Volvo Ocean 65 media system and its OBR go hand-in-hand – one does not function without the other. To be the OBR for a team means so much more than just being able to work a camera. To say sailors aren’t very receptive when it comes to having cameras thrust in their faces is an understatement. However, since the Volvo Ocean Race created the OBR position as part of the team, the race has seen a small rise in media friendly crew members; although they are a still a scarce species. For the majority of sailors it is about racing, it is about competing and it is about winning. It is not about posing for the camera – which can make the OBR’s job very difficult at times.

Though forbidden to participate in sailing the boat, the OBR must act as part of the crew regardless, helping with the most basic things, such as, cooking and cleaning. An OBR must also be trusted by his teammates. The most obvious examples of trust come in times of difficulty, as there can be sensitive issues onboard, such as injury, where a judgement call needs to be made. What does the OBR film? Does the OBR film? For the audience these can be the most fascinating parts of the story but for the OBR it is the hardest part of the job. He (or she) must first earn the respect and trust of the crew before filming these difficult and sensitive moments; they must be able to dig deep into the personalities onboard and hold a bond with each individual sailor in order to share the true emotions and the story with the world.

Not only is Yann Riou talented with a camera but he is also greatly liked and respected by the team, both onshore and offshore. Having previously sailed with Charles Caudrelier as OBR for Groupama in the previous Volvo Ocean Race, he already knows how to tap into one of the more introverted characters onboard.

If we manage to tell even 10% more than usual of this epic human story our team has to tell then we will have Dongfeng Race Volvo Ocean Race