Smiles in the rain Sam Davies and Violette Dorange sharing the love

And clearly the following for Violette has in no way diminished since her euphoric  return to Les Sables d'Olonne .  As well as the substantial posse of fans on the dockside at a little after six in the morning, waiting to see and hopefully meet the shining young star of the last Vendée Globe, there were followers out on a boat out in the dark near the Roche de Diamant who welcomed the girls to Martinique waters.  

Smiling in the torrential rain Sam opened: “I'm happy, I feel comfortable with this rain. It's like in England, so it suits me. And it's funny because we're sure we people who waved to us at 3 or 4 in the morning. When we passed Diamond Rock (Roche de Diamant), there were all these little lights, and we were flashing the boat's navigation light to point them out when we saw them. So yes, it's an incredible welcome. And after an incredible transatlantic crossing with Violette, it was just soooo good.”

Violette added, “ It was fantastic. Actually, this race, for me it was... I'd already done the Transat Jacques Vabre on a daggerboard boat, but this was my first time on a foiling boat. I found it very demanding. We were absolutely going all out from start to finish, and life on board is definitely very different on a foiling boat. But I loved the race, the challenge, the competition. And right up to the end, we were fighting, battling. We were in 7th place for maybe 10 days, something like that. And we tried all we could, all the time to gain a little bit of ground on 6th place. And then, it all came down to last night. We gave it our all, we played with the squalls, we did a lot of gybes. We didn't sleep last night, and we've overtaken 6th place again. So it's just amazing.”

24 children will get surgery! 

Sam Davies: “And just a big thank you. And we're here to race, so finishing 6^th is great, to compete against the others, but also to save children. And then, a wonderful surprise for us, since we didn't even keep track until the very last minute to find out we'd saved 24 children. So we exceeded our mission by four. A huge thank you to everyone, everyone who follows us on social media, because it's thanks to you. And also to our three partners, Vinci Energie, K-line, and Chocolats du Coeur, because they're also sponsors. The public made donations. Our partners did too. And it warms our hearts and it's wonderful to know that there are 24 children who will soon have surgery.”

The Finish?

Sam Davies: The Finish was really just a battle. For us, it was the last two days where it all came down to gaining a place which we chased all the way from Africa. There was a huge gap, actually, between the boats ahead of us and the boats behind. So we gave it our all, we did everything we could. But it was hard to imagine we could make up so much ground. And so yes you should never give up. And the proof is, we managed to play it well in the last two days and catch up with Bureau Vallée. You have to give it your all, as Violette says, to compete with the big boys, to overtake them.”

The first collaboration together. Did it go well?

Violette: We had a lot of fun, I think. And then, what else... What else can I say? I don't know.

A voyage of discovery?

Violette: I learned a tremendous amount. I had so much to learn about this boat. All the settings, the way to sail, and sometimes even how to slow down a bit, because otherwise, these boats can fall apart. And so, all of that is thanks to Sam; I learned so much. So, thank you very much. And then, I also had a really, really good transatlantic crossing. And that's important too, having fun at sea. And that's it.

Sam: “Yes, since we spend ten days together, we're kind of in the right conditions... The conditions were nice, but still extreme, because we're pushing our boat and ourselves to the limit. So, we don't get enough sleep. We don't eat like we do at home. A lot of things take a toll. So, spending ten intense days with someone else, someone who isn't necessarily your everyday friend, is fantastic.

It's great to get to know them. That's how you discover real people when you're a bit out of your comfort zone, in the middle of the ocean. But honestly, I didn't discover much more, because we'd been preparing for this race together all year. And what's great is that you don't change when you're on the boat. It just continues. We manage to live normally too, to have a lot of fun. And I think that's really important. These boats are so tough to live on that if you're not laughing, you're not having fun. I think it's hard to cope with the pace and the force of the boat slamming, jumping, the stress, the alarms, the load on the rigging and all that. So, it's good to have someone you can have fun with too. We didn't know that would be the case before we left. 

All female and mixed crew successes….

Sam: “I think It's so great to show that this sport is mixed, it really is. But I think the proof is also Frankie (Clapcich) who made it to the podium. But first of all, congratulations to Charal, who won. They beat everyone. But if we're talking about mixed teams, what Francesca did, with Will, is the first mixed boat on the podium in this race ever. I don't know, for ages. They sailed incredibly well. So, amazing. So, congratulations to them.

You were talking this morning about the stress and constant tension of doing a tour on a trail. Did you feel that too?

Violette: “Constant stress, that's okay. Of course, you have to be vigilant all the time. But there are so many alarms going off in every direction that if one goes off, it means you have to do something. It's more life on board that I found quite difficult. I found it demanding. You have to constantly hold on to the boat with both hands. Because one hand isn't enough. Otherwise, you bump into everything.

Sam:  It's like a permanent treetop adventure course.

Violette:  A permanent treetop adventure course. Besides, you can't really stick your head out of the boat when you're at sea. When we sleep, it's in a beanbag. We're well supported, but still, we bounce around in the bunk. As a result, we get a bit of a backache. There are lots of things like that that I didn't experience at all on my boat. And there, I was apprehensive about that. I think I still need a little time to adapt to the foiler. Ultimately, the fact that we're going incredibly fast, competing with the leaders, being on such amazing boats—all of that makes up for the challenging life on board.