Early 2000s:
I got in touch with Gérard d’Aboville, whom I simply called at his home and who arranged to meet me at the Paris Boat Show. I also contacted Patrick Lihurt, who had just made the crossing in 2000. In 1980, Gérard d’Aboville became the first French navigator to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean in a west-east direction3. Departing from Cape Cod in the United States on 10 July, she arrived in Brest on 21 September, 71 days and 23 hours later, after rowing 5,200 km. His boat, the Captain Cook, is 5.60 metres long. Patrick Lihurt rowed across the Atlantic (east-west direction) in 67 days, in February 2000. This was the record for the crossing at the time Despite his two contacts, the project did not come to fruition because new professional, family and sports projects were underway.
End of 2020:
The idea of rowing across the Atlantic came back. Maybe it’s time to go! So I started looking for a boat.
January 15, 2021:
Not much success in my research when, while closing the Télégramme de Brest, I see on the last page, an article about Xavier Fabre who made the crossing in 2017 and who is going to talk about his book the next day in a bookstore in Concarneau. The Click!! I leave my issue at the bookstore (not being able to go the next day), Xavier calls me back and invites me to come and see him in Nevez. This is the turning point of the project. We speak the same language, he’s reassuring, he can sell me a boat and give me the benefit of his experience. A truly beautiful encounter. If I want to leave in January 2023 (that was the initial project), I will have to find partners very quickly (before the end of May). The assiduous search does not make it possible to complete the budget for 2023 We are therefore postponing the project by one year: next starting window: January 2024.
March 1, 2022:
Decisive second encounter.
The project took shape when the President of Montfort Commun Christophe Martins welcomes my project and wants to submit it to the Council for approval. At the same time, my employer (Continental) validates the fact that he will be able to support me in my project. Additional partners: the Department of Ille et Vilaine, Activ Travaux complete the budget on time.
The project is launched.
October 31, 2022:
Meeting with Guirec Soudée on the pontoons of the Route du Rhum Among other things, Guirec Soudée has rowed across the Atlantic (East-West and West-East)
