Sailor in the Spotlight Interview - Loïck Peyron

We spoke with Loïck Peyron today, fresh from his multi-record-making win of the Artemis Transat, where he has further secured his place as one of the top sailors in the world. If there's anyone with salt water in his veins, it's Loïck. He has literally been sailing since before he was born, and his family (including his Transat-competing uncle, two record-breaking brothers, and a Supertanker Master father) have provided the world with a boating dynasty like no other.

Peyron's credentials are far too long to list here. Single-hulled and multi-hulled, Formula 40, Mini Transat, Figaro, Vendée Globe, Orma trimarans, Maxi-catamarans, Kitesurfers, Sailboards, Beach Cats - Loïck has sailed them all, and sailed them very, very well. As the General Manager of Team Gitana, it was up to Loïck to choose the Skipper of this year's Transat. He chose himself, and we're all glad he did.

After rescuing fellow competitor Vincent Riou from PRB, Loïck went back and won the Artemis Transat, and did so without needing the jury-awarded adjustment for the rescue (2.5 hours). This is important, because if he had to win on a technicality (though a rescue is hardly that), he thought it would have “ruined everything.” This is Loïck Peyron: a seaman, a philosopher, and a competitor extraordinaire. The “Jedi Master” is our latest Sailor in the Spotlight.

We caught up with Loïck on the docks in Boston:

YP: Congratulations!
LP: Thank you very much.

YP: So, what's the secret to your success?
LP: Respect and Chance, I think.

YP: What did you learn in the Transat that you'll use in the Vendee Globe?
LP: That's why I love continuing these games. I try to forget things and re-learn them - I am at school every day. The casting of the next Globe will be very very impressive in terms of the number of boats and skippers able to win. For sure, it's going to be a total planetary fight.

YP: Who do you feel will provide the most competition?
LP: A lot of guys. We are supposed to be 28 at the start in a few months, and we could say literally half of the fleet could win. This is going to be the first time with so much confidence in the ability of the skippers and boats to win a race like this - it never happens at such a level.

YP: How did you enjoy the monohull [Gitana 80 IMOCA 60] compared to the multihulls you're used to?
LP: Ah, sure, that's totally different. The common denominator is the wind and the sea, so hopefully I know what to do, but the main difference is that on Multihulls, as you know, it's a lot more stressful. That's why I have so much white hair. [laughing] I'm not so old, you know?

When you have, like me, raced a lot of multihulls, on a monohull everything appears in slow motion. That's why I know exactly what to do all the time. I'm used to having to react very-very fast, because on a multihull you have to react all the time very-very fast. So when you have this training with fast reactions, it's very useful on a monohull.

YP: We could almost see your confidence just by watching the race tracking and the way you tacked. Do you try to gain a psychological advantage by getting in front of the fleet at the start of the race, or is that just a coincidence?
LP: No, it's all the time something I try to do. The last three I've done, '92, '96 and this one, I started leading at the Eddystone Lighthouse, a few miles after the start, and I guess it's very important to put the pressure on everybody, to remind them that I'm here, all of the time.

YP: Who inspired you when you were younger?
LP: As you know, I've been sailing since I was very young, and my family of course - my uncle Jean-Yves Terlain did the Transat in '72 and '64 - but the funny thing is that I didn't have heroes in this area. When I was young, I was reading more about pirates and Nelson and the Hornblower stories. A lot more the old centuries' way of sailing. I was more interested in the adventures at sea than racing, but I was racing.

The funny thing is, I had my own “Master.” My “Jedi Master” was Mike Birch. I had a chance to sail a lot with him over many years. There were two different ways of sailing in those days. There was the Tabarly way, the “oak” manner of doing things - strong sailing and waiting to break something before reducing sail. And then there was the Mike Birch way, which was a little more like “bamboo.” I'm a lot closer to the “bamboo” way of sailing. I don't know if you understand what I mean.

YP: Well, you finished. You didn't hit anything, you didn't break anything, and you won the race.
LP: The truth in every race is that the best way to win it is to finish it. And I had on board for four days the human proof of what I was saying - that means you have to finish a race to win it. That's a huge part of the game, the respect. When I said to you that respect was my secret, that we need some respect - we need to respect the boat, respect the people, respect the sea, respect the wind, respect ourselves - it's important to try to sail like that.

YP: And respect the whales too, I suppose?
LP: Yes, and try to respect the whales. The poor whales, yes. They are in their world, and we are just playing, crossing their field. It's a pity for them, especially for them. If we lose a race that's one thing, but to kill a whale, that's not nice. We really have to pull together to work on this problem of hitting UFO's - these unidentified floating objects.

YP: What advice would you give sailors who want become Ocean Racers, oh Jedi Master?
LP: I love this name. I'm a fan of Star Wars since the beginning, and I love this story of the “Force” - you know, the strength - and you hear the story of how you don't want to be attracted to the “dark side.” I think that what we're doing in solo racing, especially in France, is really looking like the “good side.” When you look at other areas of sailing, like for example the America's Cup now, you can have a look at the “dark side.”

YP: What do you mean about the “Dark Side.”
LP: I mean, the dark side is a bit too close to the bad side of human nature. The money, the lawyer stories or whatever. What's happening these days in the [America's] Cup is all bad. When you're not good enough to win something at sea, it's not very interesting to try to win it by buying something.

I don't agree with using every way to win. There are some ways I don't want to use to win. Sometimes people are using bad ways to win, and I choose to win by only the good ways.

YP: Any other advice? Anything to the men and women coming into racing who want to be like Loïck?
LP: [laughs] You know, the one thing, the one word, is “respect.” With that in mind, we can do great things.

- Kim Hampton for YachtPals.com

Read more about Loick Peyron and Gitana 80:

• Gitana 80 (Loick Peyron's boat home page)
• Loïck Peyron - A Candid Chat with the Jedi Master
• Sailor in the Spotlight Interview - Loïck Peyron