After fighting the disease (a lymphoma contracted in 2015), the Norman skipper based in Granville wanted to accomplish a new challenge by rallying Pointe-à-Pitre, but a failure stopped his dreams on Tuesday.
INTERVIEW. Nicolas Jossier (42), skipper on Manorga in Class40.
Nicolas, having suffered multiple damages since the departure, you made the decision to abandon the race on Tuesday. Has frustration dissipated a little since?
It was not a decision
obvious to take (silence) . Yeah that's right, we'll say it's pretty frustrating.
What has definitely forced you to abandon?
The last damage was at the level of the halyard (the rope used to hoist the mainsail). At each start (three in total), I accumulated the damage. Unfortunately rather quickly and more, less than 24 hours after leaving.
These are problems that could have been detected before leaving or it is mostly the fault of no luck?
It's a mechanical sport. In what has happened to me, there are things that were not predictable and others that could have been anticipated. This is not the weather anyway. But for budget stories, we have to make choices, to remain cautious.
You feel stunned and at the same time tired.
No, I'm not tired. But it was a project that was really important to me for a lot of reasons. It is more personal and the desire to achieve something after what had happened to me, which makes it all the more difficult to live ... I worked for a year and a half on this project. We idealize what will be the accomplishment of all this work and the fact that it slips at the end of the race is complicated to admit ...
Before you left, you talked about perseverance as your biggest strength. You admit to having gone to the end of what you could achieve?
This perseverance, there, she was put to the test. It's something I used for a year and a half to get everything started. And then, three times in a row, return to the port ... A moment ago, we persevere, we have the impression that it will never go. The worst is that it happens when it's the right time these things ... It could quickly become a circle without end. In addition, I arrived within time limits. It must be remembered that the boat is not mine. I had some uncertainty about whether I would arrive in time to put the boat on the freighter to bring it back.
Did you still have fun during the race?
Yes, yes, anyway (laughs). It's something I've been waiting for a long time. I took a crazy pleasure to mount this project. It was two-way, it was not just sports. It was also personal after my cancer. I took an incredible pleasure to put together a project, to go back on the water, to meet people around what it conveyed. All these people behind this project, it is priceless. That's why I would have liked to be able to write the word end differently.
Exactly, what is the speech of your sponsors (Manorga, French Federation of Diabetics and France Lymphomas Hope) since the announcement of your abandonment?
There are no worries. We had a great human adventure. The balance is hyper positive. We were able to discuss a lot of things. It has created new behaviors, new desires for my partners.
You have become an example too?
Yes, for all those who have had a glitch in their life. We developed a concept called "the envy developer" and it worked 100%.
Participating was already a victory in itself for you.
When I found myself sitting on the edge of the pontoon next to my boat and made the decision to give up, I felt like I was alone at the edge of a road. But after that, I did not expect to receive so many messages. Many told me it was already a victory. That's good anyway! What could have said 4 years ago that I was at the start of the Route du Rhum? Even if there is a little taste of the unfinished, it is they who are right, the big victory was to be there.
With hindsight you will see even more.
We are always thirsty for victory. When one manages to overcome very complicated personal stories, one wants to win only victories afterwards. We no longer think about failure. Here I find myself facing failure and it has not happened to me for a long time.
It may be in revenge in four years?
I must already finish the story of this rum. The boat is in Lorient, I must return it. We will have to take stock of everything we have experienced. Take the people on the boat so they can enjoy it too. Me, it will also be necessary that I ask myself to know how I will engage later.
You did not put a cross on the sail?
No, I liked what I did. My love for the boats, the race, all that I did not lose. My competitive spirit, my desire to share these fantastic moments. I want to go back there. But you have to ask yourself, prepare things well so that the project does not end so early with frustration.