They will cast off this Sunday. Each on their own. Romain Attanasio, 43, and Samantha Davies, 46, will embark on their respective boats. Two 60 foot (18.28 meter) monohulls isolated in the middle of the salty immensity. They do not separate, far from it! On the contrary, we are talking about two sailors that everything connects. The passion for sailing, of course, the adrenaline of adventure at sea, but also… Ruben, their 9-year-old son.
Competitors at sea, the skipper from Francières in the Oise and the Englishwoman from Portsmouth, who has conquered her stripes as a great sailor, are also, and above all, united with the city. A great personal story that propels them into the little history of the Vendée Globe.
When the start of the 9th edition will be given this Sunday morning in Sables-d’Olonnes (Vendée), they will indeed become the first couple to compete, at the same time, this extreme race around the world alone, non-stop and without assistance. . Nicknamed “the Everest of the seas”, it crosses over some 44,460 km all the great oceans of the planet, crossing the three legendary capes: Bonne-Espérance, Horn and Leeuwin in southern Australia!
“For the organization at home, we had to manage …”
“I’m lucky,” says Romain Attanasio, “I’m a supporter and a competitor at the same time. It’s the most incredible, the craziest race. We live it even more intensely. It is also a family challenge. “A family challenge that imposed itself on the couple. Originally, only Romain Attanasio was to launch an assault on the 2020 edition on “Pure-Best Western”, a boat initially designed for Loïck Peyron for the Vendée Globe 2008-2009. Then Samantha Davies got the Initiatives-Cœur proposal.
“It was great for Sam,” says Attanasio. At one time, we didn’t have a boat. Then we had one for two. There, it’s incredible to have one each! When we found out, we celebrated it. Well, afterwards, for the organization at home, we had to manage. But we know how to do it, even if the race is longer than usual… ”If Romain Attanasio and Samantha Davies have already fought at sea at the same time, especially in 2018 on the Route du Rhum, this is the first time that ‘they will both be away for so long, the Vendée for some two and a half months.
“I’m going to miss Ruben the most,” says Samantha Davies. My darling Romain too. But he is racing and I will miss him a little less than usual because I know he won’t be very far out on the ocean and I will be able to follow his boat’s position on my map. “” We must be careful what we say, says Romain Attanasio, because we do not have the right to assistance, we do not have the right to talk about method or weather strategy. But obviously we give each other news, the bridges are not cut. “
Do better than Ellen MacArthur
If Samantha Davies received from her British “girlfriends” “a freeze-dried English Christmas meal made from turkey and red berries”, the holiday season will obviously not have the usual flavor. “It will be Ruben’s first Christmas without his two parents,” says Romain Attanasio. But it may be harder for us than for him… ”
The game is undoubtedly worth the candle. If Romain Attanasio intends to do better than during his first experience in the Vendée four years ago (15th), Samantha Davies is thinking big on Initiatives-Cœur. For her 3rd Vendée Globe (4th in 2008-2009; retirement in 2012-2013), the Briton, whose grandfather was a submarine commander, simply dreams of doing better than Ellen MacArthur, 2nd in the 2000-2001 edition.
“Sam came third at Les Sables in 2008-2009 but was fourth because the guy behind got a bonus,” explains Romain Attanasio. Ellen’s record isn’t far off, we both think about it! “
