Paris (AFP)

Separated at sea but united on land, the skippers Sam Davies and Romain Attanasio were the first couple to do the Vendée Globe.

"We did not live the same adventure but we have the same broken ribs," they tell AFP.

He completed his race after 90 days at sea (14th).

She, made the big tour in 110 days after having to give up on the 27th day after a big shock to continue in off-race mode.

Sitting side by side, the couple talks about their really unusual life and their reunion for a few days.

"Since I came back, it's nice to share the moments that we haven't necessarily followed each other," says Sam (Initiatives-Coeur).

"And it's not easy because we want to increase each time! I had that, no, but I had that! We each had our extreme adventures, we did not live the same adventure but we still have really much in common in this race, with lots of problems. We have the same broken ribs! It's like in (the film) the Lethal Weapon! ", laughs Romain (Pure - Best Western).

During the race, to each other's galleys was added concern for the other.

"I was always torn between the fact of telling and seeing her in difficulty, far away. It's not easy," he breathes.

- 'Rotten night!'

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"You, the first hassle you had is when you had to climb the mast," she told him.

"I know he hates it. I knew it was dangerous too. I was in difficult conditions to deal with, I knew he was going up, I was waiting for a message but not for news. I ended up contacting his team who told me: it's good! I spent a lousy night! ", She remembers, unlike Attanasio, who does not" remember that "...

The two sailors happily continue their exchanges and talk about their unusual job, to which they have a very different approach.

"Sam is in a big team, she is the pilot of the boat, she has the pressure of the result that I have less. On the other hand I manage my whole project from A to Z, it is me who finds the sponsors, I buy the boat myself ", emphasizes Attanasio, who drew on the experience of his partner.

And vice versa.

"In the family, we've been in the Vendée Globe for fifteen years. I helped Sam do his Vendée Globe 2012, she helped me do my Vendée Globe 2016 and then, there, we met. each with our projects ".

- 'In both ways" -

"What is interesting is to have done the Vendée Globe in both directions. In 2016, when Romain did his Vendée Globe, I was in his team, ashore as a sailor's wife. To live the problems, find the solutions, liaise with partners, ”says Sam Davies.

"You did everything, social networks, managing the comm, the house. And yes," he intervenes.

"And be awake at 4 am when he triggers his beacon!".

But why do they love the Vendée Globe so much?

"It's that we feel alive. For three months you are - sorry I quote from Jean-Claude van Damme - but you are + aware +, all the lights are on. We are afraid of breaking, of falling water, not to finish, to fill up another boat. Finally when it stops, it lacks. At one point we say to ourselves: I have to go back ", he argues before watch: "Don't you agree?"

"I don't know," she answers, thoughtfully.

"I think that the first time we want to go around the world solo nonstop without assistance, we just want this challenge. After that, we need another reason to go back. For me, it was: is it that I can do this faster, can I be more efficient ".

Romain Attanasio has already started his Vendée Globe 2024 with the purchase of a new boat;

Sam Davies is obsessed with his next performance.

In a corner of the room, their 9-year-old son Ruben dreams of racing the Vendée Globe in 2032.

© 2021 AFP