Vendée Globe: for François Damiens, keen on sailing, "the sea is absolute freedom"

INTERVIEW

Thirty-three skippers took to the start of the Vendée Globe on Sunday, a legendary non-stop solo race.

François Damiens should have been in Sables d'Olonne to attend the start, but it was finally held behind closed doors, confinement required.

The Belgian actor, passionate about sailing from an early age, intends to follow sailors.

"The sea is absolute freedom. As soon as I can, I take off," said the actor Monday on Europe 1.

His passion was born at the Glénans sailing school, which he attended when he was 8 years old.

"I started in Brittany, then I sailed a lot in the Mediterranean. I have been sailing every year since."

In 2013, he took part in the Transat Jacques Vabre, in a duo with the navigator Tanguy de Lamotte.

"It was magical. I never imagined participating one day in my life in a race with all these sailors that I have always followed. I would do it again with great pleasure," he said. 

A solo crossing of the Atlantic

But competition is not his priority.

"What interests me in sailing is to get out of the port, to sail freely. There are also the meetings: when you arrive in a port, after ten minutes you know everyone."

François Damiens is now considering a solitary crossing of the Atlantic.

Perhaps a round-the-world trip will follow, but "it's gonna be scary," he smiles, recalling the shocks of the sea and the "impossible" din of the waves.

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Down to earth for now, François Damiens is living his passion through the Vendée Globe skippers.

He closely follows Samantha Davies who, like him, is part of the Initiative Coeur project.

This association raises funds to organize the transport of African children with heart disease to France for treatment.

"She may be able to save 30 or 40 children. It's a very good cause."