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Comment Guirec Soudée se prépare pour le Vendée Globe ?

Comment Guirec Soudée se prépare pour le Vendée Globe ?

From boat maintenance and improvements to learning new skills and keeping fit, getting ready for the world’s most gruelling sailing race is a multifaceted endeavour.

Between now and November, Guirec Soudée must balance tomorrow’s dreams with today’s reality. As the French maritime adventurer draws closer to his greatest challenge to date, there’s much to consider and lots to do.

Come mid-October, the 32-year-old skipper will leave for Les Sables d’Olonne where he’ll make himself at home in the Vendée Globe village before the start of the revered round-the -world sailing race. Guirec knows that such a feat cannot be taken lightly. But just how is he getting ready for the 24,300-mile epic? Can one ever be ‘ready’ for a voyage like it?

Preparing a boat for the Vendée Globe

The boats used in the Vendée Globe are all 18-metre-long monohulls. Across the field, though, they do differ in design and age.

Guirec’s boat, Freelance.com, is 17 years old with many nautical miles to its name. Right now it is, Guirec tells us, “out of the water, on a full reset operation.”

Think of it as a detailed health check. “It’s being sanded down so we can closely assess the condition of its structure – its skeleton,” Guirec explains. It’s an opportunity, too, for him to get to know every square inch of the vessel he will commandeer through some of the harshest environments known to man. To be fully confident in the race, he must become familiar with every splinter and dink. The boat will be his home – his everything – for at least three months.

Only last week, Freelance.com was back in the water for a ‘90-degree test’ where it proved, through centre of gravity trials, that it could right itself in the event of being thrown on its side. That tells you as much about the task ahead as it does the boat.

Soon it will be repainted before a summer of sailing, starting with the Transat CIC, a race from Lorient to New York. On the post-race return journey, Guirec will be joined aboard Freelance.com by the highly regarded Corentin Douguet; the aim is to use it as a learning exercise, swap notes on the boat’s performance, and review its latest outing. “It is the last transatlantic before the Vendée Globe,” he explains. Indeed, learning is high on the agenda over the summer as Guirec looks to build on his knowledge of everything from navigation skills and boat maintenance to strategy and weather systems.

Guirec must become familiar with every square inch of his boat before the race. Here he’s pictured in his favourite Le Chameau Marinord Evo boots.

Preparing for the Vendée Globe as a skipper

“The most important thing in the lead up to the race,” says Guirec, “is to spend time at sea and sail as much as possible.” But there are many facets to his preparation – some of which, unsurprisingly, relate to his physical fitness.

Guirec has always been into his sports – watersports especially. Kite surfing, windsurfing, spearfishing and freediving are regular pastimes which require a certain level of conditioning. “Besides enjoying all of that, I have two sports coaches – one dedicated to muscle strengthening twice a week, and the other to stretching and yoga.” The latter, he admits, is probably the part of his schedule he enjoys least. “It requires a flexibility that I don’t really have but need to work on!”

Add to that regular running, road cycling, mountain biking and swimming, and you have quite the athlete. “It’s important to make time for yourself and things like this,” Guirec says. Nutrition also plays a part. Since meals during the race tend to be limited to freeze-dried or canned meals, he is making the most of fresh produce while on land.

With a young family, however, Guirec does have to strike a balance between his preparations and life at home. He and his partner Newt have two children – a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter called Maé, and Manec, a six-month-old little boy. “I will of course miss them all while out at sea,” admits Guirec, “but during the race I’ll be hyper connected and able to stay in regular contact with my family.” He describes the touch of selfishness necessary to be a navigator-adventurer but acknowledges how understanding his family are. “Newt is used to it, Maé knows that Dad's job is to be on the boat, and Manec doesn’t really realise what’s going on yet – but I will bring him on the boat before departure and he will have a map in his room on which he will be able to follow his dad's progress.”

How does Guirec feel about the adventure ahead? He just wants it to start. “I sleep, live, eat and breathe the Vendée Globe,” he says. “It’s been an obsession since I got the boat, which is nearly three years now. That’s a long time for an impatient person like me. I can’t wait to get to that start line.”

You can read more about Guirec Soudée’s background here and the Vendée Globe here.