Sam Davies on his arrival in Les Sables -

Jean-Louis Carli / Alea

  • Samantha Davies finished the unclassified Vendée Globe at the end of February, after stopping for several days to repair her boat in South Africa.

  • The Briton still wanted to complete her world tour in order to collect as many donations as possible for the Cardiac Surgery Patronage.

  • Thanks to her perseverance, 102 children were saved during her journey.

Return to earth and wish granted for Samantha Davies, who dreamed of confinement at home under the influence of weariness in full ascent of the Atlantic in her solo round-the-world trip with stopover.

Ten days after her arrival, the skipper on Initiatives Cœur took advantage of a well-deserved rest to finish recovering from her rib injury contracted following a collision with an ofni on the 27th day of the Vendée Globe, at the entry of the South Seas, early December "It was like driving a car at 35 km / h in a wall," she says with the detachment of sailors accustomed to the vagaries of the ocean.

The violence of the collision was impressive.

I flew, everything in the boat flew.

I was preparing food so my bowl was stolen.

My dinner is completely gone on the ceiling, floor and walls.

"

Accident which will have cost him much more than the decoration of his boat since the Briton was forced to give up by stopping in Cape Town, in South Africa.

At the time, the pill goes badly.

4th in the Vendée in 2008-2009, Sam Davies had already left the race prematurely in 2012-2013 and the chain of disillusions makes him want to drop everything.

"Sam calls me and the first thing she says to me is 'I'm going to stop sailing!'

»Tells Voiles et Voilers his companion Romain Attanasio, 14th in the race.

It took 48 hours, the time to reach the south of South Africa, to get this idea out of my head and decide to leave as soon as possible out of the race even if in fact, an alternative scenario was already recorded in his logbook in case of abandonment.

Davies:

“I've been preparing a round-the-world trip for four years and we had discussed this subject with the team.

I had made it clear that I wanted at all costs to complete this round the world trip, even out of the race.

We even had a mast ready to send to Australia if needed in case I dismasted there.

It was part of the fundamentals of the project.

"

A bad for a good

The project was to promote Initiatives Cœur during the Vendée Globe in order to collect as many donations as possible for cardiac surgery sponsorship and save as many children as possible with heart defects.

A noble cause that deserved to give the boat a second life, especially when we know the result: in total, 102 children were saved by an operation during the skipper's journey.

“Even if I am not classified, I count this round the world trip as a victory.

To be able to raise so much money to save children is really great.

Somehow, the retirement was even better for Initiatives Cœur since it extended my racing time by many days.

"

This humanitarian quest has also allowed Sam Davies to find meaning outside of competition.

A healthy boost when it came time to repair the boat with its crew to leave South Africa on December 14, nine days after withdrawing.

The Initiatives Cœur team was also well inspired not to hang around the site too much at a time when the restrictions related to the local variant of the Covid were beginning to emerge.

“A member of my team who had stayed in Cape Town to help Arkéa [Sébastien Simon's boat, also forced to abandon] almost got stuck in South Africa because they closed the borders.

Within a day or two he was able to leave the country by plane but had to make several stopovers to reach France.

"

New start, new goal

It was by boat and without additional stopovers that the Briton resumed her journey towards Les Sables d'Olonne.

Unlike his machine, his ribs are still loose and the new start is prudent.

Anyway, there was no more room to go into competition mode.

The fastest were already far ahead and the rear of the fleet was no match for its boat, the fight would not have been fair.

“I just wanted to catch up with the last ones as quickly as possible so as not to sail alone, because we are safer when we are close to the other competitors.

I sailed clean but was not in competition mode.

I was super happy to have a good reason to continue.

It wasn't just me who decided to finish the world tour at all costs.

I had this project, this objective of saving children, which could continue outside the race.

"

On February 26 and after 110 days of racing including an endless climb up the Atlantic despite all the goodwill of the world, Sam Davies finally arrived safely.

She then went up the channel accompanied by Junior, a little Ivorian boy who had heart surgery in Nantes during his race.

The sailor and the boy, dressed in an orange life jacket and red boots, greeted the public at length, who came to cheer the arrival of the boat under a bright sun.

Sam Davies - Anne Beaugé / Heart Initiatives

"It's great to be confronted with the fruit of our mission", rejoices the skipper today, who intends to take some time off to visit other children.

After which it will be time to set sail again. “The next big race is the Jacques Vabre transatlantic race in November.

I hope that at the end of spring we will start to sail and train to be on the cleat in the fall.

And playing it this time, if possible, wins.

To combine the pleasant with the useful.

Sport

Vendée Globe: Come and chat with Thomas Rettant on the Clubhouse social network

  • Vendée Globe

  • Sport

  • Sail