Sébastien Josse's lead up to the Vendée Globe

Sébastien Josse's lead up to the Vendée Globe © Yann Riou / Gitana S.A.

On 6th November, Sébastien Josse will start the Vendée Globe for the third time. In doing so, the skipper of the Mono60 Edmond de Rothschild is also setting sail on his fifth round the world in 14 years. As such, the sailor can rely on a vast amount of experience, bolstered by all the expertise of the Gitana Team, the offshore racing stable founded in 2000 by Ariane and Benjamin de Rothschild. However, how do you best prepare for such an adventure? It is a question that can be answered in a thousand ways, given how complex these boats have become and how much pressure the sailors will be under for over 75 days.

With two weeks to go until the boat has to be delivered to Les Sables d'Olonne – the competitors compelled to be moored in Port Olona by 14th October at the latest - the skipper and his team are putting into action what is essentially over three years' work. Every one of them is ticking off the respective jobs on their list and though technically the dice is cast, there are still a few last decisions to make, notably with regards to what Sébastien will take on board.

Sébastien Josse has both feet on solid ground, before setting out to sea. His schedule is meticulous yet tailored to the needs of a sailor who is keen not to tire himself out before the race. Sébastien kicked off this week with a final visit to the Multiplast yard in Vannes where the Gitana Maxi – a 33m trimaran due for launch in the summer of 2017 – is currently in build. The central hull has just been sealed, along with the aft beam. All of the large carbon parts will soon be complete. The assembly of the platform and the mast (at Lorima) will be done over the winter, whilst Sébastien races around the planet. "I feel very lucky," admits the sailor. "It makes me want to get round the world even quicker! It's added motivation for the Vendée Globe knowing that, back on shore, another boat is being created, that a project is taking shape and that the whole of the Gitana Team is working so passionately towards this latest technological challenge."

In sailing terms, Sébastien has been participating in the training sessions organised by the Pôle Finistère Course au Large in Brittany's Port-la-Forêt with a number of his future rivals. A venue for competition and the honing of skills, days of racing, complemented by several nights at sea, warm up the machines a little. "The rhythm of the manœuvres for example is higher than that which awaits us on the scale of a round the world race. We're setting off on a marathon not a sprint. However it's good to see on these training sessions that things are working well on board," says the skipper, who's been sailing at the "Pôle" since his first tacks on a Figaro in the late nineties. "Next, on the Défi Azimut (an Imoca race organised in Lorient last weekend), we got a chance to see that the 'foilers' are able to make better headway upwind than they did a few months ago. As a result we have managed to make up the gap in performance, but we must not get ahead of ourselves as these inshore sprints are a far cry from what awaits us on a day-to-day basis in a Vendée Globe."

Finally, the future solo sailor will share a few flights in crewed configuration aboard the five-arrow stable's GC32 at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez. Indeed, Edmond de Rothschild Group is partnering the event for the fourth consecutive year. Within this idyllic setting, the foiling catamaran is capable of flying in less than 10 knots of breeze and is the only craft of its kind in the bay of Pampelonne. A great opportunity then for Gitana Team to promote this innovative sailing, which now extends to offshore racing as well as inshore. Sébastien Josse will be at "Les Voiles" for two days from tomorrow, Friday 30 September.

Focus: for the members of Gitana team, it's time to pack their bags!

With five weeks until kick-off, it's time to load up the boat's living space... but not too much. It's important to choose the right gear – around 300kg in addition to the sails – which will enable Sébastien to take care of the Mono60 Edmond de Rothschild and be self-sufficient in the most isolated places on the planet. With an eye on safety and daily life, packing your bag is not a simple affair for the skipper. "You need to find the right balance between wanting to prevent any potential issues and playing to win," the sailor explains. "We're striving to make light boats so we can't then overload them because we're setting off around the world. What's complicated to handle is the 'you never know' scenario. With experience, you manage to make choices, but it's never easy."

To find out what will be on board the Mono60 Edmond de Rothschild, Gitana Team has photographed and itemised the inventory for you. View it and read all about it below!

Sébastien Josse's lead up to the Vendée Globe - photo © Yann Zedda / Gitana S.A.

1. Survival Gear
   Lifebuoy, fire extinguishers, flares and GPS distress beacons, wetsuit and liferaft, satellite telephone, harness, self-inflating lifejacket, personal flashlight..., safety-related gear is a constant for the solo sailor, who keeps everything within arm's length.

2. Sails
   During the Vendée Globe the skipper can carry a maximum of 9 sails (1 mainsail and 8 headsails), or a total of 1,460m2 weighing 500 kilos.

3. Stowage
   All the bags containing the food, clothing, tools, etc. are gathered together on a carbon sledge, which Sébastien moves from one side of the boat to the other with the help of ropes, so as to optimise the boat's trim according to the point of sail and the weather.

4. Ropework
   The lines are the throttle lever, which enables the sails to be trimmed. They are made of Dyneema, a very high resistance fibre. A line measuring 8mm in diameter can withstand a 9.85-tonne load! Aboard the boat, Sébastien keeps a constant eye on any wear and ensures he has the necessary equipment to effect repairs.

5. Toolkit and Spare Equipment
   He boasts a classic toolkit with all the necessary equipment to make up a little composite (resin, fabric) and do small amounts of electronic soldering, as well as gear to maintain the deck hardware (e.g. grease for the winches), repair the sails (battens, adhesive fabric) and work on the engine, etc.

6. Navigation
   99% of the navigation is managed using a computer and all the course data is accessible from the chart table down below and on a remote screen in the cockpit, with a spare in the event that the system fails. It's compulsory to have a nautical almanac aboard (book of references about all the beacons and approaches to ports and places to take shelter) and paper charts of all the zones traversed.

7. Instant Geek
   One drone, one I-pad and one I-phone to take photos and videos (even aerial shots!) of the round the world journey, as well as to listen to music (with a portable bluetooth speaker) and some audio books. An antenna allows access to the internet, via satellite, and the telephone, so as to call land or another competitor.

8. Night Space
   It is hard to get any sleep in this moving, wet, loud environment. Sébastien primarily sleeps in foulies on his beanbag, which he moves around the boat, but when he can really stretch out, he has a memory foam mattress, a sleeping bag and an active noise reduction helmet.

9. Hygiene
   Showers are taken using sea water, or rainwater on occasion in the tropics, using organic soap; failing that, baby wipes are used to have a wash. Suncream, healing cream, toothbrush, toothpaste and stuff for shaving once a week round off this most refined of requirements!

10. Medical Equipment
    The contents of the First Aid kit are studied and controlled by the French Sailing Federation (FFVoile) and the international sailing federation (ISAF) with a list of products and compulsory training in the treatment of certain pathologies and how to handle tools like the stapler for wounds and the like. All the competitors have the same kits and the race doctors, who are on stand-by back on land, know exactly what kit the solo sailor has to hand.

11. Supplies
    This element is very minimalist and amounts to a Jet Boil: an aluminium mug mounted on a blowtorch, which can boil water in 1 minute. 90% of the dishes are dehydrated and accompanied by other long-life foodstuffs, which are then divided up into day bags and then week bags. Ship's bonus: The meals have been conjured up by Michelin-starred chef Julien Gatillon (Le 1920 restaurant – Megève) and two bottles of Baron de Rothschild champagne are carried on the boat to celebrate the key passages along the way.

12. Clothing
    Sébastien carries two sets of foulies aboard (salopettes and jacket), one light and one warmer, as well as a drysuit for rough weather conditions. He then carries ten or so sub-layers made of Merino wool and anti-impact Lycra. He has a lifejacket with a harness and a tether attached to the boat for when he has to go up forward to carry out manoeuvres and may use a helmet to scale the mast.

Frozen dishes but certainly good quality!

Imagine yourself on a boat for over 75 days, 24/7, with no fridge or freshwater on tap, with only a kettle for a kitchen... Feeding yourself inevitably becomes more of a necessity than a pleasure. However, for his meals, the skipper of Gitana 16 is lucky enough to have a 'secret weapon': he has been able to benefit from the talents of Julien Gatillon, the 2-star chef at Le 1920, the Chalet du Mont d'Arbois' gourmet restaurant, one of the jewels of the Rothschild domain in Megève.

Sébastien Josse's lead up to the Vendée Globe - photo © Yann Riou / Gitana S.A.

In his hands, a squid à l'Armoricaine, a lentil soup or a semolina pudding become something special, even freeze-dried and even savoured crouched down in wet weather gear inside what constantly feels like a drum! The two men have set out the menus and everything's been trialled at sea, notably during the year's transatlantic crossings. With a view to keeping the weight down, 90% of Sébastien's meals will be dehydrated but he will keep a few sachets of fresh dishes, particularly for the first few days of racing.

Schedule:

• 30 September-1 October: Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez with the GC32 Edmond de Rothschild
• 13-14 October: arrival of the Mono60 Edmond de Rothschild in Les Sables d'Olonne.
• 15 October: opening of the "Gitana, entering into the legend" exhibition, at the heart of the Vendée Globe race village in Les Sables d'Olonne.

• 14-21 October, then from 31 October to 6 November: presence of Sébastien Josse in Les Sables d'Olonne
• 4 November, 09:00 GMT: Gitana press briefing at the "Gitana, entering into the legend" exhibition
• 5 November: 09:00 GMT: skippers' briefing
• 6 November: 12:02 GMT, start of the Vendée Globe

Information:

• 8th edition of the Vendée Globe since 1989
• In 7 editions, 136 starters, 70 finishers
• 29 sailors of 10 nationalities at the start on 6 November 2016
• Start and finish in Les Sables d'Olonne (Vendée)
• Solo, non-stop, unassisted round the world race via the three capes (Good Hope – South Africa), Leeuwin - Australia, Horn - Chile
• 25,000-mile course (46,300 kilometres)
• Event record: 78 d 2h 16mn 40s, François Gabart, Macif, in 2013
• 2nd participation by Gitana Team, after Loïck Peyron on Gitana Eighty in 2008
• 3rd participation by Sébastien Josse (5th with VMI in 2005, retirement with BT in 2009)
• The Mono60 Edmond de Rothschild (Gitana 16), a latest generation foiler designed by Verdier- VPLP, launched in August 2015

Gitana, in the wake of a passion

For over 140 years, "Gitana" has conjured up images of a line of boats, which tell of a family passion that has constantly been driven by a taste for excellence. The Rothschild's are continuing a tradition based on expertise and innovation, performance and beauty, a history where each generation has left its own remarkable imprint.

In 2000, Edmond de Rothschild steered the Gitana saga towards the multihulls and created the Gitana Team, an offshore racing stable dedicated to the passion for speed on the water and the hatching of alent. From the unremitting teamwork came some unforgettable human adventures and some resounding victories. A historic multihull protagonist on a global scale, Benjamin de Rothschild transformed a family passion into a school of excellence.

The Gitana Team yachts sail under the colors of the Edmond de Rothschild Group.

www.gitana-team.com/en