Rescued at sea after his boat broke at the end of November, Kevin Escoffier, the skipper of the PRB team for the Vendée Globe, was able to find his relatives.

He remembers his rescue by skipper Jean Le Cam as a "beautiful human story" between two "competitors" which "touched people" on Sunday on Europe 1.

INTERVIEW

He spent about 10 hours aboard a life raft in rough seas.

Disembarked Thursday on Reunion Island, skipper Kevin Escoffier reached Paris this Sunday morning to find his loved ones.

On November 30, his boat, racing for the Vendée Globe, broke in two, forcing the sailor to leave his boat for long hours of drifting on the waves.

Wrecked, Kevin Escoffier was then saved by another skipper of the race, Jean Le Cam, who had turned away.

"In these situations, we forget the competition a little bit and we realize that we can create beautiful memories by winning a race but also create some as beautiful, see more, with a beautiful human history, "says Kevin Escoffier, Sunday on Europe 1.

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"I think that's what touched people too"

“I think that's what touched people too,” adds the PRB team navigator.

"We are all competitors, Jean the first, and me too", he recalls, while estimating that the values ​​of solidarity at sea which allowed his rescue are "the basis".

After his rescue by Jean Le Cam, Kevin Escoffier was taken in by the French Navy aboard the frigate Nivôse, before staying in Reunion.

"I traveled last night to come back so I am relieved to find my loved ones and also relieved to be able to close this story and try to envision the future hoping to get back on the water soon," he comments at the microphone of Europe 1.

"A little pinch in the heart" when looking at the ranking

Since his return to dry land, the navigator says he has continued to follow the race "even if every time I look at a classification, it makes me a little pained in the heart".

But the one who reports having suffered a great "sporting disappointment" will "continue to follow her" and even "a little more assiduously" when he will be at home to practice doing "routing, the weather, etc."

"It's always interesting this style of racing, we must not lose the thread. It allows to see the performance of the competitors as well and to give an idea of ​​the boat I will need to achieve the best possible result in 2024. "