Tuesday, he found his home, in Larmor-Plage (Morbihan), near Lorient. “In the morning, the guys from the technical team surprised me by waiting at the station, it made me happy, especially since the sinking, I had not been in too much contact with them . Then I went to drop my little girl (Editor’s note: Inès, 4 years old) at school, it’s back to reality… ”Sabrina, his wife, took care of installing the Christmas tree. “The house is tidy, very clean, I will not allow myself to criticize”. Kevin bursts out laughing.
On November 30, the skipper of “PRB” had spent 12 long hours on his liferaft, after the sinking of his monohull. “I don’t even remember what day it was, it’s quite surreal, it’s so intense that I feel like I’ve lived through several months of my life. In about ten days, I went from a boat cut in two to a raft, then to Jean Le Cam and a frigate, I landed in Reunion, made 11 hours of plane to chain television shows in Paris. “
When he finally got home, he reprogrammed his phone. “Thanks to the cloud (online storage), I retrieved the last message sent from the ship: I’m sinking, I’m not kidding. It was then 2:46 pm, this Monday, November 30. A minute later, the team responds to him. “Give more info” then at 2:59 pm “What’s going on? “Two messages that Kevin Escoffier will never receive, the water on board” PRB “having risen so quickly that it quickly overwhelmed the electrical system. “Between the moment the boat breaks in two and the moment I leave the ship, we are in the quarter of an hour. Twenty minutes later, in the boat, I could see the bow above the waves, I could no longer see the back of the boat. “
“At no time did I say to myself: I’m going to die”
Kevin remade the script “because it’s important to understand. He also watched the video of the accident of pilot Romain Grosjean, prisoner of his burning car, the day before his sinking. “We did a lot of comparison, only if he saw his life go by, me never. I’m not an idiot, I know I passed by but at no point did I say to myself: I will die. Even when Jean Le Cam saw him for the first time, before losing contact. “Because I haven’t experienced it like that. When I see it, I am reassured to know that my beacons are working, but the sea conditions make attempting a transshipment too risky. In my head, I was going to spend the night in my raft and in the early morning, we would try something. “
VIDEO. Vendée Globe: “It’s a crazy thing”, says Kévin Escoffier after his rescue at sea by Jean Le Cam
In the middle of waves, Kevin Escoffier then switched off his AIS MOB beacon (for Man Over Board, man overboard), the one that as a good crew sailor he had the reflex to keep in the pocket of his oilskin with a whistle and flashlight. “Not to be missed, but to save battery life,” he laughs. “It made it harder for those looking for me but it was the right decision. Each choice we make at such times is an irreversible branch. If I don’t save my raft as the water rises it’s over, if I don’t save the battery it’s over. “
“My life choices impose such intense emotions on the people I love”
Kevin Escoffier does not consider himself a hero. “There’s a runaway, I just did what I could. Jean Le Cam is by definition my rescuer but I don’t see him that way either. This human story, this link between us will remain. If he didn’t see himself die, he understands that for his wife the situation has been terrifying. “Clearly for her I was dead, she thought she had to tell my children the next day that I would not come home. What my parents, brothers and wife went through is what bothers me the most. My life choices impose such intense emotions on the people I love. Sabrina allows me to live my passion, but how complicated it is for her… ”
Jean-Jacques Laurent, the boss of PRB, supported her. “He is a fantastic man with extraordinary human values. On the night of the shipwreck, he called my wife every hour. He offered a bottle of champagne to each man in the Nivose who picked me up, not just the commander. “
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Thursday, Kevin will meet him again in Vendée, to perhaps plan on the Vendée Globe 2024. “Because inevitably, I will go back there”, he projects himself. Until then, there will be this family Christmas. If before leaving Les Sables d’Olonne for their round-the-world trip, some sailors had anticipated Christmas presents from their loved ones, this was not the case with Kevin. “I’m going to have to go now,” he laughs. I don’t have a credit card, my wallet left with the boat. But I’m not sure that passes as an excuse! “
