Michel Desjoyeaux, the legendary French sailor, visits the Volvo Ocean Race in Boston. Image copyright Rick Tomlinson/Volvo Ocean Race.
"My eyes were like that," says Michel Desjoyeaux, forming big loops with his fingers. "Wow, seeing so much, learning so much."
It's been nearly 24 years since the Frenchman, just 20 at the time, sailed the 1985-86 Whitbread Race onboard Eric Taberly's Cote D'Or and made his bow in the world of global circumnavigations.
"A long time ago," he says. "A big learning experience. I learned so much about sailing and about me. It teaches a lot about life when you do this kind of racing, going away for a long time, facing challenges. It was a very nice experience for me."
And one that helped set the scene for him to become arguably the greatest solo yachtsman ever. "I do not look at myself that way," he says. But many do.
"He is quite far and away the best and probably the best ever," said Green Dragon's Damian Foxall back on February 2.
A day earlier, when Desjoyeaux sailed into Les Sables-d'Olonne, he became the only man to win the gruelling Vendee Globe for a second time, proving once again that he reigns supreme when it comes to solo racing around the planet.
It added to an already congested CV that makes quite stunning reading. The Vendee Globe website abbreviated it to the following: "Winner of the 2004 Transat; Winner of the 2002 Route du Rhum; 2nd in the Orma multihull championship in 2004 and 2003; Three times winner of the Figaro single-handed event (1992,1998 and 2007); Winner of the Transat Ag2r in 1992 (with Jacques Caraes); Winner of the 2007 Transat Jacques Vabre 2007 (with M. Le Borgne); 3rd in the 2007 Transat B to B; 5th in the SNSM Record SNSM in 2007."
Desjoyeaux, known by his rivals as "The Professor", shrugs. "I like sailing."
It's a short but powerful sentence when considered against his presence in the race village this weekend.
"I love all sailing," he says. "Not just single-handed."
And hence his appearance in Boston. He was a guest onboard Telefonica Blue in Saturday's in-port race and a participant onboard PUMA as they won the pro-am race on Sunday ("I did the fastest run," he points out with a grin), but it might not be the last time we see him involved in this event.
"That could be why I am here," he says. It would be extremely premature to say he is going to take part in his fourth edition of this race (he sailed a leg in each of the 1989 and 1993 events), but the thought is on his mind. "I am curious. I came here to see what has happened with the event, how it is made and organised. I want to have a true idea of what is happening."
One thing is for sure, he would have no problem sailing as part of a crew.
"You have to understand most of the time we are sailing with the full crew. The way for us to be known is single-handed sailing because it is the most popular and impressive in France, but we sail with full crews most of the time. Last week I was with the Open 60 with a full crew. Before when I was sailing a trimaran, we were maybe 10 days alone in two years before I went across the transatlantic in 2004. I enjoy sailing with full crews.
"Here you have technology, sails, competition: that is what I like and love," he says. "I love all sailing. It is not just solo sailing. Maybe I will race in this event, who knows? I do not know."
He claims he has not yet made a final decision on whether he will take part in the 2012 Vendee Globe race, but he is relieved that the two events will now run at different times as opposed to simultaneously. The convenient scheduling will, he says, help increase the profile of this event in France, a country with a hefty passion for its solo sailing heroes but lesser recognition for crewed events.
"We don't have to fight between crewed and single-handed sailing," he explains. "They are both completely different and in both cases people in France can recognise both stories. What is important is that the date of the Volvo is not the same as the Vendee Globe. It is not against the main schedule in France, which is the Vendee and the Route de Rhum. In the winter (just passed), for example, the Vendee Globe was in front in France over the Volvo. That is why the new date is perfect.
"I think for sure French sailors have the culture of single-handed sailing because of Eric Tabarly's career and we also have the Figaro racing. But I think people can like this event too."
He certainly does. "I have nice memories," he says. "It is good sailing and that is what I like. A lot has changed. I remember I could not lift the first metre of the Solent jib. It was so heavy. Maybe I was not strong enough, we needed two for the first metre of the bag.
"It was a long time ago but a great experience. Maybe I will do it again, but I really do not know."
Volvo Ocean Race
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