ROMAIN MOUCHEL FEATURE
http://www.theislander.net. 53
don’t know. In Pointe-à-Pitre I
might say never again!
Who knows...Romain asked me to join him
for a training session in the
Bay of Palma and so we set
out one Saturday morning
when conditions were perfect,
-well, that’s if you want to
get a feel for the boat when
sailing is not so smooth!
“18-22 knots and 1.5m swell”
said Romain when I met him
at his Mini - I rocked up kitted
out with more gear than a
Bering Sea fisherman, so
said bravely: “bring it on!”
We got pulled out of STP by
a marinero (no engine!), put
two reefs in the main and the
jib up and lo and behold were
‘sailing-sailing’! Being an ex
big-boat-super-yacht-stew, for
me sailing means (at the most)
pushing the captive winch
button when told to do so and
serving the owner his Pinot
in a plastic cup. But this wascompeting in 5 races prior to
the Transat. I’ll be spending
lots of time on the water and
in the gym, getting fit and also
gearing up for 20 min naps
instead of my usual 8 hours!
What are your expectations?
The boat’s capable of being
at the front of the fleet. But
‘just’ crossing the Atlantic solo
is no mean feat and I reckon
30 sunsets and 57 degrees of
longitude later that first sip of
rum in Pointe-à-Pitre is going
to taste pretty sweet!
How are you funding the
project? I’ve paid for a fair
amount myself but have also
had a lot of support from STP,
Rolling Stock, RSB Rigging,
TechnoCraft, Traba-jos en
Cabos, Wavelength electronics
and Armare who donated
ropes, paint and plenty of
other racing essentials..
How can people get involved?
Everybody that wants to get
involved can get in-volved!
Amounts as little as 20€ really
make a massive difference
as with 100 20€ donations I
would be able to get a new
sail! But at least as valuable
as the finan-cial backing is
the inherent moral support.
I will be seeing the names of
those as-sisting me written
down in the cockpit which will
continue to give me strength
dur-ing those solitary days
at sea!
An offshore sailor’s ‘secrets
to success’? Being a good
sailor helps! ;) but you also
need to be able to push
yourself beyond the limit as
you can’t rest or enjoy any of
the ‘comforts’ you’re used to.
People think we must be nuts
to spend long stretches on
our own at sea, I even wonder
myself sometimes ;) You also
need to be deter-mined and
have 100% faith in yourself
and your boat!
And after the Mini? I’m
not yet sure. The Transat is
something I’ve wanted to do
for ages so let’s first see how it
goes. I would love to say that
after the Mini I want to do a
Route du Rhum and then a
Vendee Globe but the truth is I
proper stuff! What a ride! We
did 7 knots upwind, and with
the spinnaker up -a sleek and
speedy 15 knots downwind.
It was fun, fast, windy and
yes, very wet! Beforehand
I’d imag-ined the boat to be
small and also ‘not so solid’
but the boat is strong, sturdy
and super powerful. She
feels as though she’ll thrive
in taking on the Atlantic and
all the unpredictability’s the
Ocean will certainly throw
at her. Romain was capable,
confi-dent and clearly loving
every second at sea. Although
I personally prefer to cross
the pond on boats big enough
for double beds and bubble
baths I definitely experi-enced
an adrenaline fuelled taste
of Romain’s Mini-madness.
A few hours later though
we were back on STP’s solid
ground where we tucked into
a fresh, tasty lunch after which
I returned to my warm and
comfy home to have a hotshower and a cheeky siesta.
Off course I fully enjoyed my
time out on the water but
reckon any-thing more than ‘a
morning’ would probably be
way too much... So I take my
(southwestern) hat off to you
Romain Mouchel and wish you
the very best of luck!At the age of 25 Romain has
clocked up an impressive
50.000 miles and with-out
a doubt will be one of the
youngest competitors on the
start line in Sep-tember. We’ll
definitely be keeping you
posted on his progress!Check out Romain’s website
http://romainmouchel.com
to find out more about him,
his adventure and how you
could help him on his journey.To follow on Facebook find:
Romain Mouchel-NavigateurAbove Photos: ©Jesús Renedo