Paris (AFP)

Leader for almost a month, Yannick Bestaven let go of the Vendée Globe on Monday evening, entangled in a windless zone.

The match is relaunched two weeks from the finish in a scenario "on land exciting but a little stressful at sea", confides the skipper to AFP.

The sailor from La Rochelle (Maître Coq IV), reached by telephone on Tuesday morning, did not hide the fact that this situation was difficult to live with when he was relegated to third place.

"It's the race, it's the game," he wants to put into perspective, while hoping for a new turnaround.

Q: What state of mind are you in?

"It was expected, that's why I was not happy with the lead I had. I knew very well, given the files to come, that it was going to be complicated, that there was going to be big variables in front of us. Even if we are prepared for that, it's hard, it's hard to get so many miles ahead, hard on your nerves not to move forward, to be on the lookout the slightest gale to move the boat forward, because these are not times when we rest. And it's hard because we still have more than sixty days of sea in the paws, it is not obvious".

Q: Do you oscillate between fatigue and stress?

A: "Yes, it's tiring, you maneuver a lot, whether it's day or night, because the wind is not stable at all. That night I had clouds with small squalls that caught me. changed the settings on the boat. You can't rest well, and it's stressful to see all this little regrouping. I think on land it's exciting for racing, but at sea it's a bit stressful".

Q: Does this race seem endless to you?

A: "A little, yeah. It's mostly that we haven't been spoiled by the weather conditions since the start, that's how it is. There was no phase where we really went fast. , where we were able to go quickly. It has always been complicated weather conditions, complicated systems from the start, which also means that we take longer than the previous editions. And it never started in front, that has always been reattached from behind. It was the case for Charlie (Dalin, new leader) and me in my favor, this is the case for me against me. Often we see races with the boats in front leaving and this was not the case, it always revived the match ".

Q: Are you able to hold out morally?

A: "We must not let ourselves be defeated, we must look ahead, there is still an Atlantic Ocean to cross before arriving at Les Sables (d'Olonne), so things will happen. It's the race. , that's the game. We have to accept all situations, there are more serious things. It's the last difficult day today (Tuesday), after that we'll see what happens next. I think my shift to the east I'm not going to be very favorable to me compared to the group that is in the west. We'll see. If they're stopped a little longer, I can do well, otherwise it might be a bit complicated. We will take stock in Ecuador ".

Interview by Sabine COLPART

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