Vendee Globe - Quotes from Le Cléac'h on his race

by Event media on 8 Feb 2009
Quotes from Le Cléac'h after he crossed the finishing line of the Vendée Globe this Saturday 7 February at 08:41GMT, after a net race time of 89 days 9 hours and 39 minutes 35 seconds of racing, taking into account the 11 hours redress given by the International Jury for his participation in the rescue of Jean Le Cam.

On the days before arrival in Les Sables d’Olonne

'It wasn’t very easy over the last few days with some rough conditions in the Bay of Biscay. The gear was beginning to suffer, but the main thing is we made it to the finish. It’s normal that conditions were difficult as we’re in February in the North Atlantic.'

'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.'

'It was only at the end of the race that the boat suffered any real damage apart from that. The protective cover was ripped off by a giant wave in the Bay of Biscay. There’s a piece of the mast track missing too, so I had to finish with three reefs.'

'I think I have lost some weight, because at the end I didn’t have much left to eat. I had nothing left after yesterday’s lunch and I’d been rationing myself for a while. So I was pleased to have some crepes, fresh bread and butter this morning.'

About the race

'I never really gave myself any real goals in terms of positions. With Brit Air in the beginning our aim was to complete the round the world voyage and sail well. If we managed to do both, looking at previous races I thought it would be possible to get a good place in the rankings. I’m proud to have finished second behind Michel Desjoyeaux. No one could beat him this year, so I’m very pleased with my place.'

'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.'

'There were times when it was difficult. There were moments of doubt and stress aboard the boat, when conditions were bad. And then, there were magical moments; Rounding the Horn was a great moment. Jean’s rescue was something I could never have imagined, as it was an incredible scenario. So the three months passed really quickly.'

'I was knocked down in the South Pacific with the mast over in the water and I lost my wind vane and didn’t have wind info for about a month and a half. So I sailed by intuition. I think the race was well prepared with the team. We had done quite lot of racing. I wanted to set out on a boat that I knew perfectly and where I had gained a lot of experience. I was surprised in the southern ocean at the beginning, but you get used to those conditions, so I really learnt a lot.'

'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.'

More on www.vendeeglobe.org/en