Paris (AFP)

Intoxicated by the open sea, Yannick Bestaven will set off on November 8 for "the grand tour", the Vendée Globe.

But his adventure began three years before the start of the 9th edition of the legendary solo round the world race.

"The Vendée Globe, I see it as the icing on the cake, it's so difficult to get there. We are extremely lucky to be able to be one of the 33 skippers to set off on a round-the-world trip. account and I will certainly think about it Sunday, November 8 at 1:02 pm of this luck that I have to be at the helm of Maître CoQ ", confides Yannick Bestaven, to AFP.

Eager to take revenge on the dismasting that shattered the dream of his first Vendée Globe in 2008, the Rochelais started racing again in 2017, first buying an Imoca - the star boats of the Vendée Globe ( 18.28m / 60ft monohull).

A sailboat dating from 2006 that he acquired for 625,000 euros on a leasing basis with fifteen shareholders.

"We have a better chance of setting off on a Vendée Globe with a boat than without a boat," Anne Combier told him, her team manager, an essential partner in any sailing project.

So a boat but no sponsor and the months go by.

And then, it is the meeting with Christophe Guyony, managing director of Maître CoQ (3000 employees, 560 million turnover, 80% of the activity in Vendée).

The poultry, present in sailing for 12 years, is looking for a new skipper after the end of its history with Jérémie Beyou.

- Contingencies -

"I saw 15 files I think. I went around the pontoons. I saw a few figarists, a sea bass old man who had a boat to rent, little young people recruited by a banker! spent time, I saw almost everyone, "remembers the CEO, who will retain Bestaven for a budget whose total amount has not been communicated.

It includes the payroll (ten people on permanent contracts), membership of the Imoca class (12,500 euros per year), the place in the port, the insurance of the boat - "between 7 and 10% of the value of the boat ", specifies Anne Combier.

But also a deductible for the unforeseen, "between 50 and 70,000 euros per year".

And race registrations.

For the Vendée Globe, the costs amount to 10,000 euros.

20,000 euros must have been paid before November 1, 2019, the deadline for submitting applications, a sum that will be returned in May 2021.

The contract is then a classic sponsorship contract, which is also an image contract.

"There are rewards, the name of the boat, the marking, the use of Yannick's name and image. In return, Yannick gives that, he must behave like this and he has 12 integrated days per year to navigate employees and customers, ”emphasizes the team manager.

- Risk taking -

Everything is going for the best except that Bestaven, a competitor at heart, does not see himself playing the Vendée Globe with his "traditional" boat.

He wants a boat + steering wheel + (equipped with foils) and that of the navigator Roland Jourdain, built in 2014 (Safran), is for sale for 3,050,000 euros.

In early 2019 to find the funding: a stroke of luck, the sailor Clément Giraud immediately bought the current Maître Coq sailboat.

"This boat was already paid for over 2 years, we reinvested the money in added value in our project. The bank followed and Maître CoQ trusted us, they extended the budget", explains Anne Combier, who estimates 20 to 25% increase in the overall budget.

"Between the budget of boat 1 and the foil boat, there is a gap of 500,000 euros in needs. It's called risk-taking", she notes.

And for Bestaven, "bankers rarely finance risk".

"I had to bring the minimum, I was able to do it thanks to shareholders to whom I sold the project."

© 2020 AFP