Route of the Rum. Antoine Mermod: "A very positive period"

With twenty boats on the starting line, the Imoca class confirms its dynamism. Antoine Mermod, the president of the Vendée Globe boat class, announces yet evolutions and an opening to the international.

Antoine, can we say that the Imoca class is at a turning point?

It's a class that moves, it takes a lot of time but it's exciting. Afterwards, it's a lot of organization. What is needed is always two or three strokes ahead of all the problems that arise. It's like the skipper who will cross the Atlantic.

Are not the building sites missing?

This is one of the characteristics of the new presidency with big projects: new gauge, arrival of the Volvo boats. Today, there is a combination of events that make us in a very positive period, including an exceptional Vendée Globe 2016. We had big fights between 2010 and 2012 on the monotype or open, which were very fratricidal. I was at the time on the board and I was open. It turned out that from that period, which was one of the worst in the class, some pretty positive things came out of it.

Which ones?

Already we did not make the wrong choice to have the Volvo 65, the boats we were offered. And then we put one-design masts and keels, which made the boats more reliable. We ended up in 2016 with boats with foils and reliable. This gave a Vendée Globe, which was a complete success. I arrived at the Imoca presidency on the arrival of a very successful race with a fleet that had a certain technical maturity and choices that went in the right direction. It was still incredibly easier than for my predecessors who arrived after two years of fratricidal war within the class.

Can we speak of a new era?

The race organizers had changed, there were also new people at the French Sailing Federation. We all arrived at the same time, with no backlog. We met with a blank page.

In an economically difficult situation, the planets seemed aligned for you?

I am not an economist but when you see 123 boats from the Route du Rhum and potentially we have too many customers for the next Vendée Globe, that means that the period is not necessarily the worst.

This is related to the period or readability offered to partners?

There is a bit of everything but all races are growing, classes are also linear. When we were preparing for the 2012 Vendée Globe, there were two or three boats under construction. While there, two years before, we already have thirty-five postulants. Maybe we do a better job but I feel that today, economically speaking, businesses are a little more relaxed than a few years ago.

And among these 35 postulants, there are also quite a lot of new projects?

Currently there are six boats generation 2020 under construction, and one that has just been launched (Charal). There may be two or three others.

Will these new boats be eligible for the Volvo Ocean Race?

After the Vendée Globe 2016-2017, we saw that we were in a positive situation, with already a craze for the next edition. The first thing we did was to partner with the race organizers to work together. There was supposedly, historically, an antagonism between the races. From there, with the riders, it was concluded that we had an extraordinary event, the Vendée Globe, but that between two editions it was not always easy. So we tried to solidify what happens between two Vendée Globe.

Hence the Imoca Globe Series championship.

It is assumed that this is a route to the Vendée Globe. But we try to create a link between the races, which corresponds to the reality of our projects. We try to give binder. Our projects, it's not fair to make a race, then another, another ... These races are extraordinary but put next to each other. We had to create something about continuity, which brings us to a goal. We had to be able to tell this story. On the Route du Rhum, we have used the lever of qualification for the Vendée Globe to push or value the fact that the story starts early. In 2014, we had nine boats, there are twenty.

And then there was a desired opening on the foreigner.

The other point is indeed the international side. The Vendée Globe has 87% awareness on France. The market is saturated, there is little progress to have on this side. To win the Vendée Globe, it takes eight to ten million euros to spend three or four years. When we go to see a sponsor, he finds the project extraordinary. By cons for such a sum, we must go to the office world. Because the office France, can not release such a sum. But here we are told that the project is only French, so it does not work. There, we talk about the first third of the fleet, the one that is there to win and the shooting window is super narrow. There are, however, lots of boxes that might be interested in what we do.

This goes through the internationalization of the class?

It was necessary to succeed, given the size of the budgets, to be able to open. So the bet of the Volvo for Imoca (the Vendée Globe boats alone would also be those of the Volvo Ocean Race crew), it is first there. Being able for a partner to spend on a range of investment, certainly superior, but beyond the scope of France.

Among the projects that are emerging, what is the share of foreigners?

A quarter, a third! Last time, we had ten nationalities in Vendée. After, there is quantity and quality. Alex (Thomson) was a stranger who could win the race (2nd in 2017). If among the candidates for the victory, one can have a third of foreigners, that would be perhaps the next victory. If a foreigner wins the Vendée Globe, it can open doors. We saw when Luna Rossa nearly won the America's Cup, it became a national sport. Internationalization will come when competitive skippers will line up by being able to win. History, adventure, that's the engine of the Vendée Globe but the sporting aspect is important too.

With internationalization, will the Vendée Globe remain the Imoca Grail?

The future will tell. In a classroom, the goal is to stabilize the entire system that should not depend on a single race. If some are more focused on the Route du Rhum, others on the Vendée Globe, and others on the Volvo, it would be a sign of good health. And that would guarantee a more peaceful future for the class.

The future is not likely to be accompanied by an increase in costs?

A mechanical sport by definition, it is expensive. And it gets more and more expensive as we progress in the knowledge of materials. This is a great side because it pushes to create an industry, we see in southern Brittany where there is a whole pan of activity that has been put in place; on the other hand, the problem is that it is always more expensive.

Does one of the answers go through one-design?

When we sit down with the organizers of the Volvo, we are obviously looking for the international side, new markets, and to make the cake bigger. But also to put some one-design parts on the boat, to make the costs more reasonable.

Are new projects already being built according to the Volvo?

Everything happened very quickly. Current projects had more or less started before (opening to the Volvo). At 4 or 5 million euros, these boats must have a longer life. They are already planning for the future. With having the Vendee and the Volvo in the same category of boats, it is easier to justify the depreciation cost, which is around € 950,000.00 per year. It doubles the ability to fall back on its legs and the opportunity to value the investment. This is another trick to hide rising costs.