Comfort zone… Yoann Richomme’s Imoca rivals have a particular respect for the meteo and tactical skills of the Arkéa skipper. The same was true in the Class40, Richomme seemingly able to win the biggest ocean races at will. But the Vendée Globe was a reminder too of just what a great technical sailor and hard-pressing racer Richomme’s quiet Mediterranean home town of Fréjus has produced
‘Paul, our principal IT person, had to
create a specific code simply to download the hard drives, because the standard oper- ating system of our computers could not handle it. There is still a tendency for teams to keep all that behind closed doors; I personally don’t really like that and think we’d progress much faster if we could share these learnings,’ adds Yoann. This is a reflection of his synthesis-
inclined mind, which leads him to look at the bigger picture and take steps back to analyse a campaign or a race as a system – something that clearly transpires in the way he immerses himself in all aspects of management. ‘I want to have a full view, whether it’s knowing the details of the budget, the precise comms objectives or every single technical deadline. ‘It all informs critical decision-making,
since we’re constantly having to navigate various options in every aspect of the pro- gramme. If you get tunnel vision and act like the skipper who only cares about time on the water, you end up calling the team only to know when you can slap your oilies on and leave the dock. But it does not work well that way. ‘The drawback of my approach is that I
sometimes struggle to extract myself from the team’s day-to-day business, which sometimes is necessary whether it’s to
44 SEAHORSE
recuperate after a race or prepare for the next one – my involvement is total. ‘Because the build, the refinement and
set-up phase, all the boat preparation work is perhaps what I enjoy the most, when I think about it: that’s what moti- vates me the most. ‘So, as we speak today, I’d tell you with
200 per cent certainty that I’d sign up for a new design and build campaign… but would I take her helm for another Vendée? That’s less clear. Maybe I would, because it’s “the price to pay”, so to speak, to lead a top-tier campaign. But that’s not a small consideration.’ Given how close he came to clinching a
win (of course, Charlie Dalin proved unas- sailable back up the Atlantic, but remem- ber there’s less than 24 hours in it on the finish line), it’s no surprise that people are – despite him being nuanced about it – convinced he’ll go again. It’s a simple psy- chological assumption: the fierce competi- tor, whose track record is replete with victories, can only now have one goal in mind, that is to turn an almost perfect sce- nario into a resounding triumph next time around. ‘I understand that,’ says Yoann, who is very open about his interrogations. ‘But things are more complex, and I do
get that my position can come across as ambivalent. I’m very happy with my second
place, I’m not only driven by competition and performance [ed: what would his track record look like if he was!] and yet I fight like hell when I’m out there. People, includ- ing some in my very close circle, struggle to reconcile these two facets; it can come across as contradictory, especially when results always speak for themselves.’ This openness, which other more
sponsor-pleasing skippers may not adopt for simple tactical reasons, also derives from Yoann’s willingness to explain, to open a window onto the world of offshore racing. The honesty he displays about the various factors that drive him (as opposed to a single, well-polished ‘here to win’ official party line) offers a fascinating dive into the complexity of drivers and enablers. ‘Nothing is black or white, and when I
look objectively at where I come from, I have to admit that two things can be true at the same time. I would not have taken part in eight Solitaires du Figaro if I had not been chasing a win, that seems obvious. Even though on a daily basis I do not perceive that in me, it’s not what defines me or what gets me out of bed. ‘There is a certain degree of discrepancy
between the real me and the public image that you see, that’s my conclusion. Most importantly, having answers to everything is not an obligation. I can live with that!’ q
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