Masters of the Sea - A portrait of Bertrand de Broc + Video

by Leslie Greenhalgh on 16 Sep 2014 53 year old French skipper, Bertrand de Broc was born in Quimper, in the Finistere region. He grew up on the shores of the Odet River where he started sailing with his father on the family Requin, an old race boat. He learned to helm and took part in windsurfing during most of his teenage years whilst going through training at the sailing school in Ile-Tudy. He then progressed into the Merchant Navy, but abandoned his studies after a year to concentrate on a career in offshore sailing.

He took part in his first Figaro Solitaire race at the age of 18, with much success, 'That was one of my best Figaro events, I finished seventh out of 50 entries.'

That result launched him in at the deep end and offered him lots of opportunities to sail alongside the best in all sorts of different areas. 'I tried a bit of everything, half tonners, Formula 40s, Figaro I and II, The ORMA and IMOCAs and I loved them all. I have taken part in 14 Solitaire Figaro events, seven Tours de France à la Voile, I’ve done around 25 Transats, three Vendée Globes, one which I finished – the last one in 2012-13.'

Bertrand de Broc belongs to a group of the most experienced sailors today on the Ocean Masters circuit, and shows his authenticity through the love of sailing and racing.

Bertrand remembers, ' I’ve built quite a few boats, like Jet Services, the Credit Agricole cat and a few Formula 40s. I’ve also broken quite a few boats! One thing leads to another, lots of ups and downs, like in most careers, and I totally love it!'

And there are lots of good memories too, 'I remember a fantastic victory in 1986 when I was young, on the Figaro Multi. I had partnered with Alain Gautier as co-skipper, he was 22 at the time. We won that race ahead of some of the big names like Philippe Poupon, Bruno Peyron, Randy Smith, all big champions.'

Bertrand has taken part in three Vendée Globe events, in 1992, 1996 and the last 2012-3 edition. 'Spending one’s first Vendée Globe around 12 hours in the lead at the Canaries, with Alain Gautier, who went on to win the race, far behind me – that is a good memory. In 1996, I remember passing Cape Horn, with a boat that was not so fast. I passed in third place, and I was quite proud of that. In ’92, ’96 and 2012, I certainly did not have the best boat but I managed to get them to perform. On the last Vendée, that was even more impressive as lots of evolution has taken place. They are all good memories as they show that I love these boats. But my best memory of all was crossing the finish line in Les Sables D’Olonne and that was amazing, after 92 days of racing, not breaking anything and bringing the boat home in a good state.'

Bertrand lives in Sainte-Marine, a small village at the mouth of the Odet river in the south of Finistere, not far from Port-la-Forêt – the home of lots of French offshore sailors and where his boat – Votre Nom autour du Monde – is based. The project is a little different from the other skippers, with an ‘inclusive’ approach.

'We have twenty companies supporting the project. We wish to grow that further but for now it works like that. Our biggest partner today is Tap manufacture, Laurent, they help us in technical areas and enable us to communicate well. We do it all with the means we have and try to do our best. We could stop the whole show and go ahead on smaller boats, but this class offers the opportunity to go fast on the water with boats that are reliable and interesting and they will continue to evolve further in the years to come, because today they still do not go fast enough! '

Although Bernard admits that it can be a struggle to be present for all the big vents in the Ocean Masters circuit, his passion for these big boats keeps his motivation on track. 'I’ve always loved big boats, I like sailing them when it’s perfect conditions and I like pushing them forward when it is rough and more challenging, that’s part of what I love about the sea.'

'We are trying to keep our place in this series, we are doing when we can with whatever means we have, we’re giving it lots of effort and we are pretty proud of where we are today. I appreciate the technology behind these boats, the budget reviews, meeting people, it still appeals to me and as long as that happens, I will continue to keep my small place.