Robert Scharr, skipper in the Global Solo Challenge: "We go there to find pleasure"
by Mathieu Houllière 14 Apr 2023 13:29 EST
Robert Scharr © Robert Scharr
Frenchman Robert Scharr is one of the participants in the Global Solo Challenge, which will start in September in A Coruña, Spain.
On board Yako, a wooden epoxy ULDB built by himself and designed by Patrick Balta (Enfant Perdu Design), he will set out to achieve a new challenge in his fascinating life as a sailor.
"So you're the one on duty today!" As we begin our conversation to write this interview, Robert Scharr is in a teasing mood. With a warm and jovial voice, he continues: " Aren't you tired of listening to our stories? " The question is asked candidly, but nothing could be further from the truth. The stories of the participants in the Global Solo Challenge are all amazing and fascinating to hear.
And Robert Scharr's story sounds like something out of an adventure movie. Let me tell you about it.
Robert was born in Gagnoa, in the centre of the Ivory Coast, and grew up in the African bush between the two cultures of his parents. It was not until his teenage years that he moved to Abidjan, where he discovered sailing at the local school on a 470. A passion was born.
At 19, Robert left for Paris, in France; the culture shock was violent. "I wondered what the hell I was doing there! I only wanted to get out of the city. Then I came across Bernard Moitessier's La Longue Route, and I felt sailing was my calling."
Robert left for his first sailing holiday at the famous Glénans school. Then another one. And then another... "At that time, I was going back and forth between Saint-Malo and Paris whenever I had the chance. I sailed on everything that was around!"
At 22 years old, Robert made a foresightful choice. He bought the bare hull of a Vulcain V (Brument shipyard), which he renovated in a hangar near Paris. 18 months later, Robert decided to leave the capital to live by the sea and thus be able to sail on his boat. He decided to settle in Brittany, an ancestral land of sailors.
In winter, Robert began working in a shipyard and felt in his element. Welding, plumbing... He learned how to do everything. On sunny days, he went sailing—to Spain, Portugal, or England—working on an old expedition boat. But Robert was often homesick. He longed for his native Africa and wanted to see his mother and grandmother again after many years of absence.
This gave him the idea for a new challenge: sailing to the Ivory Coast with his boat. At the age of 28, he embarked on the voyage with his wife and their 8-month-old son, headed for Abidjan, passing through the Canary Islands, Senegal, and Guinea.
"At first, I was afraid to leave. In the end, I was afraid to go back."
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