Roland Jourdain ready for a fourth Vendée Globe

He has already clocked up three Vendée Globe races, including one, where he made it to the podium in 2000-2001. Missing out on the last race, Roland Jourdain is clear today that he would like to return to the Vendée Globe with the goal of winning the event. We met up with him this week in the aisles of the Paris Boat Show. 

Roland Jourdain © Frédéric Augendre / DPPI

Roland, what is your motivation for wanting to return to the Vendée Globe?

Roland Jourdain: “Because I love the race (laughs). I really want to give it another go. Straight after the end of the 2008-2009 Vendée Globe, I decided I wasn’t going to be doing the 2012-2013 race, as I don’t want to do it for the sake of simply doing it. On top of that, I had another sailing programme lined up on the MOD70 with Veolia Environnement. Unfortunately, the sponsoring project came to an abrupt end in 2012. I know that the Vendée Globe requires a lot of commitment. In the last race, the duel between François Gabart and Armel Le Cléac’h was incredible. It was also very demanding before the race started, as preparing these boats takes a lot of time, and there are so many unforeseen incidents along the way. But today, I feel ready to take up the challenge for the fourth time.”

With a winning project?

“Of course, over the last 25 years, I have always lined up to race with the goal of winning. I’m well placed to know that to win, you first have to finish (Roland was forced to retire in the 2004-05 and 2008-09 Vendée Globes, editor’s note). It is indeed very tough to find the funding to set up a winning project.”

Where are you in this quest?

“We’re making progress. I have some smaller partners, but I’m still looking for the headline sponsor. It’s a bit like fishing: you put out your crab pots and just hope that it’s worth it. I can feel there is a lot of interest in the Vendée Globe, as firms appreciate the image conveyed by the race. But everyone knows what the current economic situation is and that scares people off and gets them worried. It’s true that it takes a lot of money to commit to the Vendée Globe. But there is no problem about the media coverage and the return on your investment: all of the sponsors, who have signed up for this race have had positive results. I just have to convince them to go for it, which is not that easy. There are all sorts of financial arrangements that are possible. For example, two headline sponsors can work out well, as it reduces the cost and everyone gets what they are looking for.”

So on a practical level, what exactly are you doing to win over potential partners?

“I don’t do much knocking on doors with all my papers ready. In today’s world, where there is so much communication and advertising, firms already receive so many proposals. I take advantage of meetings. This year, I was lucky enough to sail with Jean-Pierre Dick on the MOD70 Virbac-Paprec (until the 70-foot boat capsized a few weeks before the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre, editor’s note). That enabled me to stay in contact with the world of ocean racing. In my Kaïros base in Concarneau, we have been working in particular on research and development involving biocomposites. That means I have got other contacts away from the ocean racing sector. In any case, there are no miracle solutions. You just have to keep at it. I’m not lazing around waiting for a sponsor to come and find me.”

Are you planning on buying a boat or building a new one?

“It all depends on the budget I manage to find, and at what point in time it gets sorted. There won’t be many of the top boats on the market apart from François Gabart’s MACIF after the 2014 Route du Rhum. Ideally, I’d like to build a new monohull. 2014 will be a crucial year. We have to ensure everything is sorted out by the end of the year. I’d really like to get my hands on a boat at least a year before the start of the Vendée Globe. So that means that I’d need to get the construction underway in early 2015 at the latest.”

So you’re not competing in the next Route du Rhum?

“I’d really love to get out there and defend my title, but for the moment, I can’t see how that is going to be possible. It’s a pity, but that’s life.”

The IMOCA class has announced a race between New York and Barcelona and the establishment of a new world championship (the IMOCA Ocean Masters). Do you see that as a good thing?

“Yes, the fact that there is a commercial entity like OSM working to internationalise and promote the class is very positive. It really needs international coverage, in particular for the Vendée Globe. The more foreigners that compete, the greater the race and the wider the coverage. We also need to create races abroad like the New York – Barcelona, while at the same time understanding that French firms are not necessarily involved in markets abroad. This should benefit everyone involved. The Vendée Globe remains of course the pinnacle event. But with a clear circuit planned for a four-year period, that is positive in terms of the technology, the preparation and communications.”

What is your race programme for the coming months?

“I was supposed to compete in the Krys Ocean Race, a transatlantic race for MOD70s aboard Virbac-Paprec with Jean-Pierre Dick. But the race has been postponed. So I’m going to reschedule my programme. I’m not too worried as there are so many different types of boats that interest me, from small monohulls to giant multihulls.”



Best regards and fair winds