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ALMA Class Globe 580 / 2025 - 5 80 m Bateau en contreplaqué de fabrication artisanale Naviguez autour du monde Interview de Chr...
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00:00So Christian, welcome to Voodoo Marina. Long way from home for you. How are you feeling?
00:19I'm pretty good Abel. So yeah, I've been here for more than a week now and I finally feel like I've arrived somewhere.
00:30Yeah, it's a tropical boatyard. You've been on the hard for quite, you know, for a couple of days working but it's not a bad work environment, eh?
00:37No, not really. We get distracted very easily because it's such a beautiful place.
00:42Yep, do too. So okay, we'll leave the boat till later but just in terms of, you know, you're halfway around the world nearly and you've had some, you know, personal health things with your shoulder, you know, you've got the extra challenges and the skin stuff.
00:58Yeah. But your boat is still, you know, it's some little things but it's looking like brand new. It's a boat that you built. It's the biggest sailing voyages you've ever done.
01:10By far. Yeah. So is the MGR stacking up to be what you thought it would be or is it better or worse or what?
01:18So far I'm really happy to be here and I'm not sure if I had that big expectations especially how it will be. I was just curious how it will be and I just let this, yeah, come towards me and experience it and it is what it is.
01:42It is what it is and I'm really happy to made it that far and even more happy that I have confirmation now that I can actually go on with my shoulder and get the surgery done after the MGR so I can continue and that's all new experiences and I'm just enjoying it.
02:06Yeah. Yeah. So I should just remind everyone we did this interview back in Panama as well so I won't go back over all your background but the one thing you know people can see that in the other interview it's quite interesting especially to reflect now.
02:18Yeah. But I will just mention that I, you know, I can't believe you're here because, you know, three months before the race you were still building the boat.
02:26I am still building, I'm still building, yeah. But anyway I really got the impression, you've built a beautiful boat and I got the impression that you enjoyed building the boat.
02:34Yeah. But while all the time you were building it were you not obsessed but was it the focus for the MGR or was it let's just build the boat first and then just see what happens and so on and how did you, how would you, you know, did you really enjoy building it?
02:50I really enjoyed building a boat. That was a lifelong dream of mine and I still enjoy the process so I'm already thinking about building another one but yeah that's another story.
03:02Why I built that boat and why I took the decision to do it at this particular point in life was a special thing that I said okay it happened so many things and so things happen so fast and life changes in such a quick manner and you can't predict what's going on you can't
03:30push all of your dreams to push all of your dreams to the future and say one day I'm gonna do it. So I was really happy building the boat and enjoying the build and enjoying to have the possibility to do that and to do that at that point of my life.
03:50And it's just amazing that I made it to the start line and I'm actually here and yeah this will not be the part of my adventurous life this will be probably only the beginning.
04:07Yeah because I really got the impression that the build because it's a fantastic boat right and you obviously enjoyed the build and then sometimes I thought in the beginning with the Transat that okay now you're just validating the build rather than being focused on the MGR and there's nothing wrong with that you know what I mean but I'm just saying that's that's how involved you were with the build that's my impression you know.
04:28Yeah that's that's right I was really happy to finish the boat which is actually yeah it's not really finished but I'm still working on it yeah but I'm really happy to be able to have it as ready enough to go yeah because that was that's the thing but to answer the question when I was starting to build the boat I didn't think about the MGR I
04:55I was sort of dreaming about it dreaming about the circumnavigation for sure and the Transat was some some kind of adventure that I said that's doable yeah because that's like living yeah for five weeks and in your car going into the Alps and doing some skiing and winter time that's that's like adventurous holiday for five weeks
05:23um and I was not sure if I would uh would be uh happy enough with with the boat how how she sails and um um or if I would be able to to do it that's what I found
05:37step by step in myself that I'm actually capable to to handle the boat and handle um the situation to be alone on my own and to solve problems when they occur and not to not to freeze in in a moment
05:51where uh yeah something happens on the boat and um I found out that I can yeah I can deal with that and I feel comfortable with that and uh so step by step it becomes
06:03more realistic to do the MGR and um yeah there was all over the Atlantic there was the or um when I was finishing the boat there was the possibility I was uh
06:15yeah I had the application out for for doing the MGR I did all the preparations I did all the safety stuff everything um to do it but um there was a chance that I would step off the boat
06:27and said no it's I'm done that's too that's too much yeah I don't like the boat I don't know how how much she moves
06:33I think that's a very very pragmatic German approach and I and I could see that right from the beginning I think we spoke about it you know say come on you can do this
06:39yeah yeah uh having said that or two things so that if you want to see uh Argo we did a video tour of Argo
06:47that's also I think it's an amazing boat um but anyway having done that and you're in the in the MGR you're quite
06:53serious now I can see you always throwing game plans over you know you're looking at the weather and this that
06:58and the other so you you've certainly slipped into the racing mode sort of scenario um how would you yeah I
07:04I was just going to say how would this my impression how would you describe your situation you know in terms of
07:0950 50 adventure sailing versus racing or so you know what's your where do you sit
07:16yeah in the beginning on on the Atlantic there there was uh there were two divisions the racing mode and
07:24and the cruising mode I said I'm uh not in one of those I'm in adventure mode and um I still am that
07:32uh I still am in that adventure mode that's um it depends on my mood but I the the big thing was to to say
07:40the Pacific and um that was just incredible to be out there on this huge ocean and being on my own and
07:48um having to deal with all that thinking that comes up and all the emotions and they're so close to each other
07:56the good mood and the bad mood we really feel like yeah really really happy and enjoying everything and then there's
08:04one thought coming and it somehow pushes you down and and that's it's it's so close to each other so the emotions
08:12are so close to each other and um it's it's just uh yeah unbelievable how um yeah how this yeah how this
08:24works out for uh yeah yeah how how I can cope with that on the on the journey how to arrange that yeah
08:34have you know been been there done that for me so I'll throw a couple of points to you yeah just try
08:39and describe uh have you been through imposter syndrome you know where you think you're not good
08:45enough and so on have you ever experienced that um I don't know the the British name for that yeah but
08:51probably um you're always struggling or I'm always struggling with uh yeah with thoughts where where
08:58some things might not be good enough yeah it's during during building the boat and um during during
09:05sailing um not so much it's just um the emotions are so so close to each other um out there and um
09:13sometimes I'm really uh enjoying hand steering going fast and sometimes I'm just uh yeah I'm just I'm just
09:21lazy pray maybe and um I then I don't stress myself about that I don't I don't care if I
09:28if I say okay sales will go all right when Wayne is doing the job yeah have another nap yeah or make
09:34something to eat so I'm not really then pushing the boat and it depends I'm not in racing mode and
09:39didn't strip out the boat to to the last kilo and get rid of no matter what equipment or dinghy is to
09:46make it lighter or I'm still I'm still carrying water from Panama so I'm obviously not not really in
09:54racing mode and um what about self-doubt you know what I mean like like self-doubt and fear
10:06fear I can't really I can't really say that um of course there were uh some situations that I didn't
10:14experience before and that that were frightening um when we came to Lanzarote even um there were
10:20there were nights with uh with lots of squalls and thunderstorms around us um that was scary there
10:27and it was uh in the in the doldrums uh yeah it was was crazy or going out of Panama in the first night
10:35that was um never experienced that before I didn't know what's what's what's going to happen so I was
10:42um maybe it was kind of fear but but um I was I was dealing with that quite well so it just uh yeah
10:51did preparations and and and kept going and um so there's no way that I'm uh there's no way to escape
11:00anywhere or there was no way to say okay I'm gonna stop the race that's too frightening and you can't
11:05step off you know you can you just you just keep going I feel confident doing it and um self-doubt is
11:14uh for sure in uh in some moments might might be yeah was that the right decision to uh to do and um
11:22what's um yeah it even comes to to deeper thoughts that you think about what what are you going to do
11:31with your with your life and what's uh what's that all about and and um so yeah I'm still not done
11:37with with with that so um when I arrived in the Marquesas um I'm I could have gone for for two months
11:44more so okay so now you I mean it's pretty impressive you know as a fleet we just say oh yeah we're all
11:52doing this but individually you sort of look at what you've done you you must feel pretty good about
11:57that as well pretty proud and all that so can you sort of quantify that you know
12:01yeah it comes with the with the with the feedback um and when you when you realize um
12:12or no nothing it has something to do with with feedback but but that's not the not that's not
12:18the main thing so basically it's um when I'm of course feedback is important to um to to hear what
12:27people think about the okay you guys are crazy did something something extraordinary but this
12:32this sort of um reinforces or reinsures myself okay I've really done something special and um
12:42for me itself it feels special when I'm when I'm when I'm out there because that's that's something that
12:48not many people would do and not many would take that kind of journey doing it on their own
12:54and um and in a home built boat yeah or plywood boat they said okay ocean crossing yeah with a
13:03with a plywood boat no no way but um so would you would you say proud of that would you say this is
13:10the most significant thing that you've been involved with in your life so far if not what's the other one
13:15you know uh would you think the mgr building the boat yeah now sailing in the mgr is the most
13:23significant thing that you've actually done in your life and if not what would you say has surpassed that
13:29you know what i mean how would you slot it into your life so far
13:35oh it's a completely different life starting now i've got the impression so um
13:39um i think i've tried to to do some some things that uh yeah that haven't that have an impact uh before
13:53um so like in in in my profession now what kind of projects i'd like to work on is is this a good
14:00thing to do or um is this is this helpful for uh uh for for people and um yeah sailing around the world
14:10is is more like uh yeah more like a selfish thing than if you do it on your own yeah but it's it has
14:16a big impact on my life as well yeah it's because it's okay so what do you completely different way of
14:22living yeah yeah what would you what would you say is the most enjoyable part of um the mgr you know
14:29where you are like it doesn't matter what it is but the thing that you really like or that's day to
14:33day or just occasionally or something you know uh that's moments out there on on the ocean where i'm
14:40really feeling feeling happy feeling being myself feeling i feel to be uh just in the place where i have
14:47to be at the moment and um enjoy sailing and that's that's really nice and um there's of course all
14:56all the um all the camaraderie and the mgr and all the beautiful places where where we go um as i
15:04said before that's uh we're we're on a sailing race so we're in a rush to go around the world so
15:09that will not be the last circle navigation probably yeah because um i like the all the places where we've
15:16been so far and um i want to have more time to to visit them so um but um yeah seeing it from this
15:25side i'm actually uh doing a race and i want to continue the race i try everything with my health
15:31to to stay in the race and that's kind of manner i'm i'm a racer but um um i'd like to cruise there
15:40and uh and see all the beautiful islands have more time to meet people um at a yeah another point
15:46in life yeah so um in your in your eyes what do you perceive to be the biggest risk you know the
15:53most the the not the biggest challenge the biggest risk because there's obviously risk
15:57sailing around the world solo and you know what what do you think of or reflect on it occasionally
16:03there's a huge risk um sailing solo and uh yeah just just the risk of uh we're risking our lives to
16:16to do that we've got this this kind of dream and um we know that we're risking our lives because so
16:24many things can happen we try to um to eliminate um risks and as as far as possible yeah try to follow
16:35safety regulations try to try to follow safety rules try to uh get our stuff prepared as good as possible
16:42um but it's a risky thing to do and that's something we i think we all have in mind as least um or i have
16:51in mind and um so that's yeah that's something you you have to be aware of because otherwise you uh yeah
17:00you you're lost out there yeah and um actually the funny thing is yeah that i am more afraid from
17:08of land as i'm from the sea so that's the sound philosophy in the boat yeah that's that's it
17:18that's that's the thing yeah when we are coming closer to uh to islands or to reefs um that's uh
17:26yeah that's a risky thing to do because you you could kind of lack of sleep by the time because
17:30the weather was not so pleasant the days before and um that's that's a risky thing to to uh sail into
17:37these waters and yeah yeah so you you're doing lots of odd jobs and stuff and a few important
17:42ones on your boat yeah are you actually starting to focus and think more about the next leg i mean
17:47it's 9 700 miles or something and they're going to get down into the southern ocean effectively
17:52um what state are you at in that in terms of your own mind confidence what are you thinking about
18:00or are you still enjoying fiji um i must admit i'm still enjoying fiji so so that's um of course we
18:07we've got some some conversations with the others and um what's yeah the next leg about and uh about
18:14which stopovers to uh to make and um how is it going to be and uh talking about whether that can occur
18:22there for sure but i'm not in detail so far so i'm i'm still working on the boat and uh besides that
18:28enjoying this day in fiji so so when you when we all started this game we there was starlink mini
18:34starlink wasn't on the agenda it is now because you've got starlink yeah yeah so yeah so do you see
18:40describe how you use it and do you think that's a good thing or a bad thing i mean we've all been
18:45talked into it but but where do you sit because it changes the game a bit you know in terms of the
18:51solitude and so on you know it's a completely uh different different thing yeah um but um as we're
19:00per notice of race obliged to contact our managers twice a day we stay in contact anyways so of course
19:06it's with starlink it's more um if you've got the energy to to to run it actually then uh and if it
19:13works yeah that was not not the case all the time on argo but um you're you're more connected than
19:21than you are and you're losing kind of uh yeah the experience of the solitude and being being out there
19:28so um that's somehow a bit disappointing on the other hand i'm enjoying to uh to to have my friends and
19:39uh and family and everyone who's interested in in the project uh informed what's going on so that's
19:46that's the upside of of that yeah yeah so so you still got panama water tell us what your water
19:52management was since panama you know how much you took and you know how you're using it i took a huge risk
19:59because taking so uh yeah so little water because i was calculating with uh with five liters a day and
20:09uh wanted to be prepared for uh for 60 days yeah because we could have had hard times in the
20:15doldrums not getting anywhere or uh yeah run into a tropical storm losing the rig and yeah no matter
20:24what so um that would have been 300 liters and i actually left panama with 240 so that was the risk
20:32um and um yeah i said by the time i will have crossed the doldrums i will probably be able to uh to to
20:42say how much how much water i would uh use if i had duration the the water to yeah using four liters
20:48or three liters which is for other people is lots for me it's somehow i need more water and um
20:55um yeah it was like uh the preparation for the uh for the whole for the whole trip was uh
21:10yeah i did it pretty much in in uh
21:14not in a rush but but um more i prepared more in my mind i felt confident with the stuff they've got
21:21on board and with the water that i took so um i was confident that i can do it with that yeah
21:27how do you find the human dynamic of living on board because it's not a big boat you know but you know
21:32so but you're all you've been on there for 90 days or something in the last yeah that's it's been
21:36yeah yeah how's that working um that works pretty pretty well for me so um i um i was sure that i can
21:47can be um with myself for for a long time and i won't have comfortable like you know you can
21:52comfortable like you know the the spaces are okay and i think oh with the okay just just human
21:58dynamic yeah okay um yeah it's okay your um your muscles are uh vanishing pretty quickly so
22:08that's the thing and um that might be also the problem with uh with my shoulder that this became a bit
22:14worse um but um yeah you don't move around a lot but um i still enjoy the uh enjoy sailing the 580 so
22:25um it's it's not a huge task of yours of course you're very limited and you get thrown around
22:30sometimes um in that in the tiny boat but um yeah somehow i feel like i could get used to it so
22:40uh yeah it was okay okay so you've got the the muscle tendon injury sort of thing and then you
22:48had the little skin issue but has the rest of the health side of being on board it's okay like um
22:54they're the only two issues you've had like have you dipped into the first aid kit much and things
22:58like that that was uh yeah the skin um infection was uh was a bit concerning and um there was not
23:07enough antibiotics for that in the kid that's why um the uh the msos doctors advised me to go there if
23:14i've got the possibility and uh yeah the proof was there i've been to galafagos islands uh yeah
23:22got escorted to the hospital and to the pharmacy and back to the boat um and uh it reaccured as you
23:32so um that was a bit scary because i really didn't know what what it was and they somehow didn't seem
23:42to really want to find out or taking samples or whatever so um i was on antibiotics and a big
23:49amount of antibiotics for for uh in total more than five weeks and uh yeah i hope that's that sorted
23:58out if there was a problem and hope it won't reaccure but i'm kind i can't be sure of that so um i still
24:05got more antibiotics um on the boat than i had before started before the start and yeah i hope that will
24:14be okay and yeah the shoulder problem is um yeah still there won't won't go it um cured even uh really
24:25early in the race on in the first week after leaving lanzarotti on the atlantic that was the first time i
24:31contacted my physiotherapist back at home and uh yeah i think it's a it's a i can't remember a single
24:44incident where this might have uh happened um that um that the rupture occurred but uh it's really painful
24:53at night so that's a bit of a problem and um i somehow have to deal with that but i i feel that
25:02i can i can do it i made it that far and um it's not getting worse that's the one thing and um i've got
25:11reassured by um by doctors that do these kind of operations that the operation could be done after
25:19the dmgr so i'm not in a hurry until this is full uh rupture then of course i need to to get an
25:25operation as fast as possible but for the moment i'm able to go yeah so you're on the heart of the
25:31moment you're still living on board you live on board all the time has you how would you describe your
25:35operational budget not building the boat not repairing the boat maintenance but your operational
25:40budget for sailing around the world like customs due you know immigration marina fees all that sort of
25:46stuff do you think that's sort of shaping up the way you expected or it's hitting hard or whatever uh
25:53yeah it's it's more like like hitting hard so um that's kind of turning or even um yeah i'm not sure
26:02if the the costs uh from from all the hospitals and stuff and will will be covered but um we will we
26:09will see and uh everything around that uh of course it's uh it's very expensive so i i didn't
26:16do a really detailed calculation before so i don't think anyone did yeah you can't really do it
26:23no no and there's so many things that just secure or get get more expensive and that stuff which is
26:28sometimes a bit annoying but uh yeah somehow i will be able to do it um if i could ever get some help
26:34that would be uh really good so um i'm i'm still or or now i'm looking by now i'm looking for a sponsor
26:43because i wasn't before because um i was never a european champion or world champion in that kind
26:48of class and i never built a boat before so it uh would have been a stupid thing to to to look for
26:54a sponsor before i started building the boat but i'm now i'm uh i can tell okay i built the boat it
27:02floats you can see it and it's almost say it halfway around the world so obviously i'm capable um to do that
27:09kind of stuff too so um if anyone is interested to hop on and it's just an epic adventure and many
27:16people are interested in that and uh i would be happy for any kind of help yeah for sure yeah the um
27:22just to get you back onto the boat can you describe the day today the sun's coming up and your day starts
27:28describe the average 24-hour period for you you know what happens you know from sunrise to sunrise
27:35uh at the moment or underway underway underway underway um i really enjoy the sunrise i always i always
27:43did um when i was sailing and um yeah i usually wake up with with the sun um that's like in the yeah
27:55my biorhythm uh integrated so um i need some um some alarms for for uh for the night if i have to
28:04uh get up and depending on conditions and um and the area where i'm sailing in and uh usually i start
28:12yeah like pretty slow the usual thing yeah checking the sales checking the course uh checking position
28:18and um yeah sometimes just enjoying the uh uh yeah the sunrise um uh sometimes i if there's if there's
28:29stars still up and uh they're visible i take some sides with the sextant and um uh i got rid of the
28:37coffee so and when i'm out there i barely drink any any coffee so um that's not a morning ritual that i
28:45that i have anymore so um then i just get something to eat until when i when i feel hungry which is most of
28:52the time my uh my homemade porridge that i have so i'm enjoying that and it's last for yeah for several
29:00hours and um yeah it depends on the conditions if there's lots of sales changes to do or just just go
29:08and uh yeah look after the boat try to um try to sail of course as fast as possible but there are days
29:16where i don't care so much that occurs too or where i'm just too lazy to uh to make uh big changes for
29:26maybe minor advantages and um yeah from time to time i i try to i try to check things which um happens
29:38most of the time with with uh sale changes and stuff so um when i'm checking uh yeah the blocks or the
29:46furlers or whether how the lines are running or if there's uh something to do on the on the hull yards
29:53if i have to shorten them because they've got uh worn off um on the where they enter the mast that um i
30:01just do this while yeah while while sailing the boat while while going around and um yeah from time
30:10to time i i don't have a really uh schedule to um to do the maintenance on on board i just do it as i
30:19as i feel feel good to do it and uh so far that worked pretty good and um
30:25um yeah that's how the day uh goes on yeah then of course checking some mails yeah contacting thomas
30:34my manager and um connecting with connecting with friends um weather report if needed is is one thing
30:43i listen a lot to audio books during the day and um that's that's how i sell and um sometimes i really
30:50enjoy uh steering for for hours and hours and uh yeah sometimes i just don't care yeah take a nap and
30:57uh um what i enjoy very much is uh is the sunset it's just amazing sunsets on the pacific you wouldn't
31:07believe you gotta be there to understand today that's yeah i didn't imagine it'd be that that beautiful
31:13that's that's really cool yeah um sometimes i fish but uh i wasn't not so lucky uh of the atlantic so
31:22far yeah um yeah then preparing the boat for the night and um i'm gonna eat some i'm eating something
31:30every time before sunset yeah so that's for sure and um depending what the night will be like so
31:36weather wise um what the forecast is like i i prepare some uh some food for for uh that i can
31:43easily grab during the night and yeah yeah so you it has it been down below have you had much water
31:49down below like it's been reasonably dry or you've got lots of moisture or something uh yeah most of the
31:56moisture maybe came from sweating when i was going through the doldrums and maybe not so not so much when
32:04you're working on electrics yeah uh because i had issues with my um with the starlink yeah the step
32:11up converter just broke on the first day of the panama so starting didn't work anymore um i had to
32:16work on that and try to work a way around cut the short power cable pull the wires out put wires in
32:22parallel to get a certain amount of thickness and uh yeah shorten cables and stuff then i got some issues
32:29with my with my solar panels um they're not correctly wired so um i changed wires on that and yeah doing
32:36that underway is um i like to to do things underway when i'm when the conditions are are uh uh yeah make
32:49make it make it easy to to do and not too bad uh but um the the heat and the moisture of that inside is
32:57challenging and um what the yeah when it comes to hatches and and stuff it was uh yeah pretty dry
33:06so um yeah yeah okay so uh sometimes i think it's hard to believe that we're where we are because
33:13not quite halfway across yeah but like cape town's only one more leg away i've got a very strong
33:20what are you looking forward to most now about you know the the next half so to speak you know what what
33:25is there a highlight something you think oh i can't wait for that or whatever
33:30um not so sure about that so i'm keen to be on cocos killing islands which would be really nice so um
33:39and it's it's all new territory for me so i'm i'm soaking up everything that i that i can get and uh yeah
33:46try to make the best out of it and um try to say as as good as i can and um just just enjoy it
33:51and of course we've got in mind that uh we will somehow have to have to go around cape of good
33:58hope with uh gullius current and um could be really nasty conditions of course uh winds the wind
34:05against currents there and um yeah that's that's somewhere in the head but yeah but yep okay anything
34:15you want to wrap up with anything you want to get across or say you know um yeah basically that i
34:22feel really happy i feel pleased that i am able to to do this kind of adventure and um i thank all the
34:29people who helped me to get there um yeah that's uh got so much help from from hedwig who supported me
34:37um yeah throughout the last years and um during during the build and uh without her i wouldn't be here
34:45and um really really grateful for for that and um yeah i really enjoy everyone who's who's uh coming
34:54up for me um to me asking me questions about the race or what's going on so um i really uh like to
35:02keep you guys informed so stay in contact watch this space what's your urls and all that sort of
35:07stuff your face your facebook page we'll just talk about it yesterday yeah that's everything you will
35:12find under argo worldwide a-r-g-o yeah my boat argo worldwide around the world the big journey for a
35:22small little boat for a tiny little boat and no matter on uh instagram facebook and youtube you're
35:28gonna find me um if you type in argo worldwide yeah fantastic all right thank you christian that's
35:34really good good luck uh and we'll uh be doing this again uh in cakedown soon if that's what yeah
35:43all right thank you very much yeah thanks mate
35:58you
36:58...
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