These last days spent ashore have not been wasted by Marc Lepesqueux. For his fourth Route du Rhum, the Norman Skipper is taking part with a brand new boat
and there is no shortage of work to fine-tune it, including some ten hours before the start.
“There are still a lot of things to do because while sailing we discover the little problems. And then we fix the solar panels because we had problems with the delivery. It was supposed to happen at the beginning of October. For sure that it’s not ideal. We knew from the start that if we had the boat not very early, we would have the rush a little bit at the end. We’re used to it because I’ve always put my boats in September at water, whether in 2006 and 2014. It was only in 2010 that we had not launched in September because it was the boat of 2010.”
Thirty years after buying his first boat for a mini-transat, Marc Lepesqueux has therefore set off again on a new project lasting at least two years with a latest-generation boat.
“I’m a competitor. I like having the means to fight in front and to be with the front group. That’s where the fun is. It’s the competition to fight even if the first days won’t be a cakewalk. But it’s a bit like the high mountains. Sometimes, we shit but we actually go back there. We like it.”
Marc Lepesqueux is right to be wary of the first hours of the races even if the postponement of the start must protect the fleet from dantesque conditions. Eight years ago, the Norman skipper retired after just 24 hours in difficult sea conditions.