Question asked by Marie-Agnès:

What do you find most difficult to cope with during this race, and on the other hand what do you most enjoy ?

Answer:

The pace of this race is beyond comprehension. Obviously, the new boats are simply faster than my older boat. As Michel Desjoyeaux told me last winter, his boat has 30% more righting moment (translates into horsepower) than my boat, so there is no way I can keep up.

Yet one pushes to try to go fast, and the single most stressful part of this experience is when the boat is going fast, you are just waiting for something to go wrong. And at high speed, that could be very wrong. I do not comprehend how the leaders are coping with this, because they are going much faster than I am. Surely they are more accustomed, being professionals, but still, it must be difficult for them.

On the plus side, I like seeing the albatross, flying fish, porpoises, and stars, and I like being part of the race, as it is the most challenging sailing race in the world.

Thanks for the question,

Rich