SPORT

The key concept underpinning the creation and philosophy of Thomas Ruyant Racing is the notion of working together.

It’s the idea that the interaction between two elements – in this case, two boats and two skippers – can give rise to a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

That’s why the buzzword around TR Racing at its base in Lorient on the French Brittany coast is “synergy.”

In a set-up that is unique in the IMOCA Class, two of the most talented skippers in solo ocean racing, the French veteran Thomas Ruyant and the British newcomer Sam Goodchild, are combining their talents sailing two boats from the same racing team.

While Ruyant campaigns his new Antoine Koch/Finot Conq-designed foiler (formerly known as For People), Goodchild is running Ruyant’s old IMOCA, the 2019-vintage Guillaume Verdier-designed rocketship formerly named LinkedOut and For The Planet.

They are supported by a 30-strong team of professionals and specialists – or “ultra-specialists” as Ruyant calls them – and while the team prepares as one, Ruyant and Goodchild race hard against each other on the ocean.

Indeed this autumn they will both start in the Vendée Globe solo round-the-world race with podium credentials; Ruyant, 42, will be looking to improve on his sixth place last time, while Goodchild, 34, will be making his debut.

Thomas Gavériaux, the Chief Executive Officer of TR Racing, says the choice to switch into a team in January 2023 was based on a collective conviction of just how powerful an arrangement a two-boat set-up could be. And, he argues, the early results have more than justified that belief.

“The first place it is paying off is in the results,” said Gavériaux. “The first season with TR Racing running two boats produced seven podiums out of 15 possibles. It was two victories for Thomas, five podiums for Sam and not forgetting the IMOCA Globe Series Championship for Sam, which also reflected his participation in The Ocean Race.”

From a management perspective, Gavériaux says the creation of the team broke new ground and imagined a new way of working in a fleet that has only ever seen skippers and their shore crews prepare largely on their own. “IMOCA is a culture where teams tend to be built around one individual – that’s the history of the Class,” he explained. “Then suddenly you are asking people, who have devoted most of their career to working for a one-man-band, to realise that the world is wiser when it’s wider.”

Team-building and sharing a common goal were important early objectives at TR Racing, which is backed by Advens. “We were relying a lot on the ability of the different members of the team to have confidence in each other to the point where they were happy to share their different experiences. They all come from different backgrounds and with different levels of expertise in various fields,” added Gavériaux. “The result is that we now have a pretty good collection of highly-skilled individuals that have engaged in this process with all the reasonable questions and doubts to start off with, but who have very quickly realised that this actually works.”

While there is a five-strong dedicated shore team for each boat, the rest of TR Racing’s staff is spread across both sides of the boatshed and includes design office specialists, performance analysts, technical and composite specialists, plus staff employed in administration, accounting and management functions.

Setting up a team like this depends critically on key individuals working together and buying into the philosophy. In Ruyant and Goodchild, Gavériaux has found that chemistry as the team looks to develop and optimise its newest boat, while maintaining Goodchild’s IMOCA as an immaculately-prepared reference. “When they started talking about the team and what it could achieve, both Sam and Thomas were 300% aligned and that’s key to making sure the rest of the group has followed on,” said Gavériaux.

Perhaps the biggest single benefit of a two-boat team is the opportunity it creates for comparative testing on the water and TR Racing is imbued with the principle that, almost invariably, if one boat goes out sailing so does the other. The team uses two-boat testing to evaluate new components, to evaluate new set-ups on board and to compare performance in a host of other ways. Gavériaux says this arrangement is so effective and time-efficient, it means that “every hour we spend on the water is worth three.”

Ruyant says the two-boat element has meant that he has been able to develop and optimise his new IMOCA far quicker than he would have done had he been working on his own. But he makes the point that it is not just about comparing numbers and data.

“We set the framework and there is a lot of openness and sharing,” says the skipper who won both last year’s Bermudes 1000 Race and the Transat Jacques Vabre (TJV). “So it’s not just the team sharing information and ideas with Sam, there’s obviously also a lot of input from him too. He’s sailed on a lot of different boats, particularly multihulls, and he’s had experience in The Ocean Race. So we are feeding off each other and the technical teams too, so that’s a big plus.”

Goodchild describes the two-boat element and working together as a “massive” difference. “In the IMOCA Class now-a-days, going sailing is quite rare, so being able to line-up against each other, and validate performance choices fairly quickly, is a lot easier with two boats on the water,” he said. “If we want to test something and go number-crunching, we will see how a component works on one boat and then see which is faster – you draw conclusions a lot quicker.”

Both Ruyant and Goodchild say that one big team of specialists working on two boats means there are usually more people in the room than would be the case in a single-boat set-up, when it comes to solving a problem and looking for solutions.

“It’s more people around the same table with more ideas and you can bounce ideas off them, though you’ve still got to make a decision in the end,” said Goodchild. Ruyant agrees: “The more people there are, the more brain-storming there is and the more exchanges there are, so there’s a lot of internal problem-solving and creativity.”

Ruyant and Gavériaux say the TR Racing set-up is highly cost-efficient, especially when it comes to the shoreside functions. “There are genuine economies of scale,” explained Ruyant. “We use the same team base to prepare all year round, and we have shared logistics, shared communications, shared partners and shared tools too. All of which adds up to considerable savings. I think that two separate projects like ours would obviously cost a lot more.”

One risk of two boats and two skippers working under the same roof is that the competitive element between them can be compromised, something that is often seen in Formula 1 teams where one driver becomes the leader. In TR Racing that is not the case, as Ruyant makes clear.

“Of course there is this exchange of ideas and sharing, which is well-organised within the team, but it’s clear that once that startline is crossed, then for me, Sam will remain a competitor like any other,” he said.

For Goodchild, the benefits of sailing a fully-optimised and battle-hardened boat, which has won big races (including the Route du Rhum and the TJV), while working with a team and skipper in Ruyant who has enormous experience in the IMOCA Class, adds up to a dream package.

“From my side of things, this year it will be my first Vendée Globe and to be able to take that on from inside the structure of what was already a winning team is a massive benefit and massive advantage,” he said. “The structure of TR Racing definitely looks like a strength to me, and if you look at the results last year, you couldn’t really have hoped for much better.”

Ruyant has no doubt that TR Racing has been on the right track as it has developed from a successful one-boat team into a bigger outfit that, in Goodchild, has given an opportunity in IMOCA to one of the brightest young stars in the sport.

“This two-boat team is something new in ocean racing and in IMOCA racing,” he said. “But we like to do things differently and try out different ways of operating. These are methods we see in other sports, like motor racing, for example. If it’s well structured and well-organised, it works and that’s the case for us.”

In the history of the IMOCA Class there have been few skippers who have completed a debut year to rival that of Sam Goodchild, who achieved five consecutive podium finishes in his first five races and became the 2023 IMOCA Globe Series Champion.

But who is this modest 34-year-old Englishman? A sailor who will start his first Vendée Globe in November in a proven 2019-vintage boat (the former LinkedOut) that will give him podium chances on the round-the-world course, if not an outside chance of winning, something no British sailor has yet achieved?

Goodchild had an unconventional upbringing, spending much of his childhood living aboard yachts with his parents in the Caribbean islands, an experience that has given him an extraordinary affinity with the sea and with boats. In fact if you talk to those who knew him as a teenager they say the young Goodchild was obsessed with the sea and sailing from an early age.

Charles Darbyshire, the founder of the Artemis Academy in Cowes which trained young British solo racers – Goodchild among them – says Goodchild was focused on the sea to the exclusion of everything else.

“His love was the water and sailing and that’s how we got to know him,” said Darbyshire. “What I remember of him at that time was he couldn’t actually talk about anything other than on-the-water activities – there was almost nothing more to him.”

David Bickerton, who mentored Goodchild during his teenage years when the young British sailor was at boarding school in Britain, jokes that Goodchild “grew up sleeping on the chart table” and had been on yachts “since the year dot.” He says, as a result, Goodchild is probably happier on the sea than on land and developed an unusual affinity with boats.

“He had phenomenal balance – the best I’ve ever seen,” says Bickerton. “He could walk around the boat without any need to hold on – it was extraordinary and something I’ve never seen in anyone else.”

Having lived variously on the Caribbean island of Grenada, the Isles of Scilly and in the Cornish port of Falmouth, Goodchild knows what it is to be an outsider. “My whole life, I’ve been a foreigner,” he jokes. “When I was in England, I was the kid from the Caribbean, and when I was in the Caribbean I was the kid from England. Now I’m in France, I’m the guy from England.”

Goodchild completed his school studies with A-Levels in Maths, Physics and Design & Technology, but turned down university, where he might have studied engineering, in favour of a life on the sea. In doing so, he rejected advice from his parents and others that he should get a degree and then go sailing. “I was pretty stubborn-minded about it,” he said. “I was probably a little over the top, but I discovered this world of sailing and it was something I wanted to do. Why would I look somewhere else when I’d already found it?”

Goodchild’s early experience on the water was dominated by dinghy sailing and match racing, a discipline at which he excelled, becoming the best skipper in his age group in Britain. But his real interest was in offshore racing and after gaining experience with Alex Thomson’s team and then working as a preparateur for Mike Golding, he set as his career goal taking part in the Vendée Globe.

But it has been a long journey to IMOCA as Goodchild gained experience, honed his skills and awaited the right opportunity. He completed four seasons in the Solitaire du Figaro, alongside several years racing Class 40s. He crewed on a wide range of big multihulls, including the MOD 70, Phaedo3, and the maxi-trimaran Spindrift, and then returned to the Figaro in 2020 when he threatened to become the first British winner of that event before being undone by a windless final race. He went on to win the Ocean Fifty Pro Tour in 2021 and continued sailing in that class until selected to race alongside Thomas Ruyant in the TR Racing team last year. It proved an epic first season in IMOCA that saw Goodchild sail a massive number of miles, starting with crewing on Holcim-PRB in The Ocean Race and finishing third in each of the five IMOCA races, among them the Transat Jacques Vabre (with Antoine Koch) and the Retour à la Base.

What we have learnt over the years is that Goodchild is a tough and determined competitor with an excellent temperament for top-level sport. Starting with an upbringing that nurtured his natural talent he has matured into a methodical, competent and competitive racer. Throughout he’s maintained a laser-like focus on the Vendée Globe, moving to France, learning French and working hard to master all the disciplines that that race requires.

Brian Thompson, the British skipper of Phaedo3, has sailed thousands of miles offshore with Goodchild and says he has never wavered in his Vendée Globe ambitions. And Thompson has seen him improve in all areas over the years. “He’s the same person as when I first met him 10 years ago, but just with far more skills and confidence – he’s the complete package,” said Thomspon. “He doesn’t make mistakes and is always focused on doing a good job on board and looking at the big picture as well. He will be aware of what we are trying to do navigationally and he is a very good driver.”

Thompson says Goodchild has never stopped learning. “He’s very intelligent and really thinks about his sailing, so he doesn’t get backed into a corner where he has to panic or rush things. He does it all in the right order and doesn’t miss out a step and then get into trouble later.”

Goodchild has had his fair share of setbacks, for example when possible crew selections have not materialised, when he was dismasted in the Route du Rhum in Class 40s and when he suffered a nasty head injury on board his Ocean Fifty, Leyton, at the start of the last Route du Rhum. But he has weathered these storms, aided by a nicely-balanced temperament.

“I think he hides the lows well, or manages them well, and I don’t think he has the highs,” said Darbyshire. “The kinds of things that wear other people down have not had the same effect on him. He accepts them but doesn’t let them knock him.”

Bickerton says Goodchild takes losses and reverses and uses them to work out how to improve, rather than dwelling on them in a negative way. “He doesn’t always get great results and when things do go wrong, he works out why and how to avoid it in the future, rather than flinging stuff overboard or shouting and screaming,” he said.

In the latter respect Bickerton adds that Goodchild plays a competitive game but never strays into intimidating tactics or trying to destabilise an opponent. “He is very, very competitive and absolutely determined to do very well, essentially win. But Sam is not going to be nasty. He will not be like that and I think people like him. He will be very good and make sure he does the best he can to win but he won’t cross that line,” he said.

If you ask Goodchild about his strengths, you get an idea of how modest he is despite all that he has achieved. “That’s never an easy question to answer,” he says laughing. “If I had to pick something out it would probably be being an all-rounder. I can’t think of anything which I’m really good at, but I can’t think of anything that I’m completely useless at either.”

And his weakness? He says weather and navigation is still an area he wants to strengthen, having done a lot of sailing in big multihulls when the routing was often done on shore by dedicated professional meteorologists. But there is another thing he highlights: “One of my biggest weaknesses is I want everything done as quickly as possible. I think definitely on a Vendée Globe you sometimes slow down a bit – you do things once, slowly and well…”

In terms of his evolution to the elite level, Goodchild says that after his first Figaro experiences, the years he spent on big multihulls with the likes of Thompson, Thomas Coville or Yann Guichard and their crews gave him the experience and learnings he needed. He was thrilled to come back to the Figaro in 2020 and find that he was able to mix it with some of the best sailors in the sport, an experience that re-fired his ambition for the Vendée Globe.

“I have sailed with a bunch of people who are legends of the sport and I’ve seen a bit more and learnt a bit more how they operate, and that helps in terms of realising I am capable of doing this and that a Vendée Globe is something I am capable of. It’s not going to be easy or straightforward, but I don’t go into it wondering if I am capable of it. It’s just about how well I can do it and whether I can make it to the finish and keep the whole project in one piece,” he explained.

Goodchild says being a team leader within TR Racing is a big challenge which is taking some getting used to. But, he says, with the support of the whole team and his French wife Julie – with whom he has a seven-year-old step-daughter and a two-year-old daughter – he could not be happier with the build-up to his first Vendée Globe. “There are always points for improvement and things I could spend more time on, do better and work harder on. But I feel for a first Vendée Globe, I couldn’t really hope to be better prepared to be honest,” he said.

Looking in from the outside, what we can expect to see is a man who keeps it all under control and does not give too much away whatever the trials and tribulations he goes through. Thompson reckons he has an excellent chance of winning the Vendée Globe against the best IMOCA skippers in newer boats and, if he does, Goodchild will stay cool as always.

“Yeah, if Sam wins the Vendée he won’t be any different after that – somewhere deep inside there will be a sense of accomplishment, but we won’t really know about it,” said Thompson.

Thomas Ruyant et son plan Koch-Finot Conq de 2023 et Sam Goodchild à bord de son foiler Verdier de 2019 quitteront cet après-midi leur base Lorientaise, destination New York et le site de départ de la transat en solitaire New-York – Vendée, dont le départ sera donné mercredi 29 mai prochain. Plus qu’un convoyage, c’est à un véritable vol d’essais que les deux marins souhaitent se livrer, dans le prolongement de leur préparation collective du printemps, quand chaque expérience, chaque leçon et comptes rendus obtenus en navigation de conserve sont analysés et partagés en équipe, pour le plus grand bénéfice commun.

Une Transat en deux temps

Temps fort de la préparation au Vendée Globe, cette double traversée de l’Atlantique au programme printanier des foilers VULNERABLE est, au sein de l’équipe de TR Racing placées sous la férule de Thomas Gavériaux, abordée de la plus pragmatique, scientifique des manières. La traversée d’Est en Ouest qui débutera lundi de Lorient, sera ainsi scindée en deux tronçons, de la Bretagne à Lisbonne, puis de la capitale Portugaise à la « grosse pomme ». Les deux Imocas vont à loisir se « tirer la bourre », et emmagasiner au large et en mode « performance » un nombre considérable de datas qui seront en temps réel disséqués, décortiqués par les ingénieurs du Team, pour alimenter cette inextinguible soif de performance des deux skippers. Les deux prétendants au Vendée Globe, pour maximaliser cette quête d’optimisation, ne partiront pas seul sur l’Atlantique. Thomas sera accompagné de Morgan Lagravière et du navigateur – architecte Antoine Koch, tandis que Sam embarquera Benjamin Ferron et Paul Médinger, autant d’experts en capacité de trouver, toujours et encore les clés de la performance, quelles que soient les conditions.

Thomas et Sam débarqueront à Lisbonne, « weather permitting », remplacés respectivement par Pierre Denjean et Emilien De Broc sur le bateau de Thomas, et Robin Salmon, Boat Captain du plan Verdier et Alexis Aveline sur le VULNERABLE de Sam. Les deux skippers du Team accéléré par Advens, s’inscrivent ainsi dans cette logique savamment dosée de quête de la performance et de ménagement des hommes, qui préside à leur préparation pour l’objectif ultime de cette campagne, le Vendée Globe.

Sam Goodchild :
« Il est important de se donner du temps pour peaufiner notre approche du Vendée Globe » explique Sam Goodchild. « Après de nombreuses et enrichissantes navigations à la journée depuis nos mises à l’eau respectives, Thomas et moi allons pouvoir mettre la barre un peu plus haut en allant naviguer, toujours de conserve, au large et sur la durée. En embarquant les techniciens du Team, le gain en performance sera augmenté, et les leçons encore plus bénéfiques, tant les regards extérieurs de nos équipes seront pertinents. Voiles, réglages, comportements du bateau dans des conditions variées de mer et de vent… autant de secteurs qui seront passés au crible de leurs expertises. »

Thomas Ruyant :
« La confrontation entre deux bateaux performants est véritablement le « plus » du Team TR Racing. Nous tirons le maximum de cet incroyable avantage que nous procure la logique de Team telle qu’elle existe depuis longtemps en Formule 1 automobile. Nous allons optimiser et exacerber cette logique en navigant en équipage. L’occasion d’embarquer nos marins-ingénieurs qui pourront in situ appliquer leurs observations dans tous les compartiments du jeu. De nombreux speed tests sont au programme d’ici Lisbonne, et si la météo veut bien jouer le jeu en nous procurant un maximum de configurations, nous devrions beaucoup apprendre de cette traversée d’Est en Ouest vers New York. »

Une écurie de course au large à deux voiliers de la classe Imoca performants, qui mutualise à un haut degré de sophistication technologique les expériences de navigation, menés par deux marins expérimentés aux profils complémentaires, désormais hébergés dans un bâtiment dédié à la Tech et à la synergie des équipes, voilà ce que la complicité de deux passionnés, Thomas Ruyant le marin et Alexandre Fayeulle l’entrepreneur a accompli dans l’intervalle de deux Vendée Globes. Une histoire généreuse de passion, de confiance, de création et d’imagination que les deux hommes racontent en miroir, chacun à leur manière :

Thomas Ruyant : Alexandre Fayeulle, toujours un coup… « d’Ad vens! »

Parmi les 180 et quelques chefs d’entreprise du Nord rassemblés sous l’image revigorante du Colibri, lors de l’épopée Vendée Globe 2016 de l’Imoca « Le Souffle du Nord pour le projet Imagine », Thomas Ruyant peine à se rappeler avoir croisé le regard d’Alexandre Fayeulle. Le patron de la toute jeune société Advens, spécialisée dans la cybersécurité, est pourtant bien présent, intrigué, troublé même par cette révélation que constitue la découverte des dessous d’un Vendée Globe. « Ce n’est qu’à mon retour du Vendée, à l’occasion d’un petit tour de table à Lille, en présence de quelques partenaires, que je fais vraiment la connaissance d’Alexandre. Il se montre curieux et passionné par tous les rouages du métier de coureur au large. Il me présente sa société alors en plein essor, ses collaborateurs. Je me souviens d’échanges très riches, très constructifs, car Alex est un vrai chef d’entreprise qui maitrise tous les aspects de l’entreprenariat, et moi aucun. Il se montre d’emblée de très bon conseil, et petit à petit, s’investit dans le montage de mon projet Vendée Globe 2020. De partenaire minoritaire, il devient, avec le lancement de la construction de mon plan Verdier, partenaire principal. Nous montons ensemble mon écurie TR Racing. Sa pertinence sur tous les aspects entrepreneuriaux est fascinante. Son énergie est débordante. Rien ne lui résiste. Il décide, il se lance, il s’engage. II voit loin, toujours plus loin, au point d’avoir toujours un coup d’avance sur les événements. A peine mis à l’eau, le bateau, qui doit logiquement porter le nom de son entreprise Advens, se voit rebaptiser du nom d’une oeuvre sociétale, LinkedOut. Entre temps, Alexandre a fait de moi un chef d’entreprise. TR Racing, comme Advens, a grandi, avec ses équipes techniques, ses deux Imocas, son bâtiment dédié. Alexandre continue de surfer sur l’Impossible, passionnément, sans relâche. Notre amitié est basée sur une confiance mutuelle et sur une franchise de tous les instants. Son oeil averti me rassure ! »

Alexandre Fayeulle, entrepreneur visionnaire

Boulonnais bon teint, c’est pourtant adossé à la mer, les pieds dans les labours, qu’Alexandre Fayeulle déploie ses rêves de monde meilleur. Fondateur d’Advens, leader européen de la cybersécurité, il avoue n’avoir dans sa vie planifié qu’un seul projet, celui d’un retour à la terre, au métier de ses aïeux. « Le reste est un chemin de vie, et donc de rencontres. C’est ainsi qu’est né Advens et TR Racing ». Celle avec la mer, la course et Thomas Ruyant est un fracas, une déflagration émotionnelle sur laquelle Alexandre va bâtir non seulement une écurie de course, mais le tremplin de ses aspirations altruistes dédiées aux hommes et à la planète. « Le premier coup au coeur survient deux mois avant le départ du Vendée Globe 2016. Membre du collectif « Le Souffle du Nord pour le projet Imagine, qui déjà voulait inspirer le plus grand nombre à travers la symbolique de la course au large pour bâtir un monde plus juste et plus durable, je profite d’une sortie à bord de l’Imoca de Thomas Ruyant à Dunkerque. D’emblée, j’ai été séduit par le bonhomme, son incroyable humilité devant son rêve herculéen de tour du monde en solitaire. Quelques semaines plus tard, je prends de plein fouet dans le chenal des Sables la puissance émotionnelle de cet événement. Je me promets secrètement de tout faire pour aider Thomas un jour de gagner ce Vendée Globe. » Le pétillant cocktail Sport – Aventure – entreprise – compétition – sociétal, agit comme un détonateur chez cet entrepreneur viscéral et visionnaire. Les planètes s’alignent avec évidence ; un coureur charismatique, honnête et généreux, une machine à voile à la pointe de la Tech, un événement extrême, planétaire et fantasmatique, au service de causes sociétales et humanitaires. Alexandre tient son credo. Le mot juste, le parler vrai, l’engagement sincère le lient à Thomas dans une communion de vision qui dynamite le sponsoring classique. « Thomas je le connais. Nous nous ressemblons. Il sait où il va, et il fédère, par son humanité, sa simplicité. Nous grandissons ensemble, dans nos carrières respectives. En 2016, Advens s’ébrouait dans l’anonymat, tout comme Thomas. Aujourd’hui, Advens se développe avec les succès de Thomas. Et nos performances servent l’intérêt général. »

TR Racing, ses deux skippers Thomas Ruyant et Sam Goodchild, ses deux Imocas, frapperont jeudi 28 mars prochain les trois coups d’une saison majuscule, monumentale, magnifiée le 10 novembre par le départ du Vendée Globe 10ème du nom. Les plans Koch/Finot-Conq de 2023 et Verdier de 2019 sortiront à cette date de leur hibernation, cocoonés tout l’hiver par les techniciens du Team et impatients de rejoindre leur élément liquide. Place à l’action, et à la multiplication de navigations aussi sportives que scientifiques, entre deux voiliers d’une même équipe qui partagent et échangent dans la plus grande transparence chaque expérience nautique, pour atteindre l’excellence dans les nombreux compartiments d’un sport éminemment technologique. Entrainements de conserve, débriefings communs, partage des analyses et des datas, et développement sur l’eau des idées et estimations techniques scanderont le mois d’avril, qui culminera par un convoyage en équipage réduit vers New York, occasion là encore idéale de pousser toujours plus haut la quête de la performance. La Transat New York Vendée, départ le 29 mai de « Big Apple », marquera le retour de Thomas et Sam à la compétition. Elle permettra de jauger en course et en solo la pertinence des choix et modifications du printemps.

Deux IMOCAs en confrontation et en mutualisation

Les prochains mois s’annoncent denses du côté de TR Racing, chargés de toutes les phases de préparation et de montée en puissance en vue de la date fatidique du 10 novembre prochain, départ de la 10ème édition du Vendée Globe, l’objectif majuscule de Thomas Ruyant et de Sam Goodchild. Préoccupation principale du vainqueur des trois dernières grandes courses océaniques (Thomas), et du champion du monde de la classe Imoca (Sam), s’élancer des Sables d’Olonne au meilleur de leur forme physique et émotionnelle. La gageure des prochaines semaines est donc bien de progresser dans la mise au point des bateaux, en multipliant les navigations en duo, bord à bord pour d’enrichissantes confrontations et comparaisons de performances. Un travail tout en synergie déjà extrêmement gratifiant le printemps dernier, que Thomas et Sam souhaitent renouveler et accentuer à quelques mois de l’échéance du Vendée Globe, sans pour cela se « mettre, eux et leurs équipes, « dans le rouge ».

Thomas Ruyant : « Ne pas se cramer »

« L’important pour moi, au-delà de toutes ces navigations, est de garder l’envie, de conserver l’énergie positive, en bref, ne pas me « crâmer ». C’est pourquoi nous faisons le choix de ne pas courir la Transat CIC fin avril. Toutes nos équipes, Sam et moi-même, souhaitons nous donner le temps de faire les choses telles que nous les imaginons à l’idéal, pour nous présenter au départ du Vendée Globe au maximum de notre préparation technique, avec deux bateaux parfaitement aboutis, réglés et préparés pour un tour du monde express, dans un état de fraicheur mental optimum, et une envie d’en découdre et de livrer le meilleur de nous-mêmes totalement décuplée, et non altérée par une éventuelle lassitude à l’issue d’une saison par trop surchargée. »

Sam Goodchild : Profiter de la dynamique du Team

« Les années hors Vendée Globe, nous terminons nos saisons en novembre-décembre. Cette année, nous aurons, à cette époque-là, le plus grand rendez-vous dans la carrière d’un coureur au large, le Vendée Globe. Il convient de l’aborder au meilleur de notre préparation, technique, physique et mental. Il ne nous a pas semblé qu’aligner deux transats en solitaire durant l’été était la meilleure méthode. TR Racing est une équipe à deux bateaux, et nous voulons profiter à plein de cette chance de pouvoir naviguer, bord à bord durant le printemps et dès la mise à l’eau. Nous allons multiplier les sorties, en solo, en double et en équipage, avec tous les instruments de mesure dont nous disposons grâce à notre équipe et à la technologie d’Advens, notre principal partenaire. Nous allons travailler tous les compartiments du jeu, et pas seulement l’allure au plus près du vent comme le propose la Transat CIC. Nous rallierons New York en mode performance, avec à bord des membres de notre staff, dont les retours d’expérience seront extrêmement enrichissants. Le printemps sera ainsi dense et particulièrement riche en retour d’expérience des deux bateaux. »

TR Racing en ses murs

L’écurie de Thomas Ruyant, Alexandre Fayeulle et Thomas Gavériaux inaugurera le 25 avril son bâtiment technique situé quai du Pourquoi Pas à Lorient. Mieux qu’un hangar de chantier, il s’agit d’un véritable complexe moderne destiné à accueillir deux Imocas, mais suffisamment grand pour toute l’équipe dédiée au fonctionnement de l’écurie, staff technique, coureurs, bien sûr, administration et communication. Construit sur 4 niveaux et sur plus de 1 300 m2, il témoigne d’un profond désir de qualité environnementale avec une utilisation maximale de matériaux bio sourcés, récupération des eaux de pluie, isolants bio sourcés, panneaux solaires photovoltaïques….