Jean-Pierre Dick: “I am very proud to have put my name on the tablets of this edition”

Considered by many to be the double-handed specialist, Jean-Pierre Dick (Notre Méditerranée - Ville de Nice) won his first major solo ocean race last night in the Rhum Mono category in style. A source of great pride for the skipper from Nice, who crossed the finish line of the 12th edition of La Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe this Saturday morning at 11:12:51 PM local time.

“ The Rhum is very, very good! It was a difficult race. She's not a boat for upwind sailing. We found ourselves facing headwinds. There were three from memory. There were seven very long and really unpleasant days with a boat hitting. There are other unpleasant boats in the fleet too. And then having to save not Willy but Brieuc (Maisonneuve) who was capsized, it was a bit of an unusual moment, I would say. It was a bit complicated to find him. It took us a while and then I got a more precise position from the race director who helped me find him. The trickiest moment was when he agreed to dive. I saw in his eyes the despair at losing his boat. It's terrible. And then it took three days to get him back to Ponta Delgada (Azores) without losing too much time.” I filed a claim for compensation for the diversion. I got eight bonus hours, which is good, but it was another race within the race. I got to know Brieuc, who is a very nice person. I'll try to call him to find out what happened to him.

The race continued, but this time it was more the boat's preferred domain, with light airs in the high pressure area first, then quickly downwind under spinnaker with downwind sails. It was slipping along well! It was the second big week of this Route du Rhum, and I was able to extend my lead. I pushed the boat all the way. It's a great source of pride to have increased my lead. It's still a great performance to go so fast in a monohull. I'm very proud. For me, this Rhum was important because I hadn't won a major ocean race solo, and now I've done it. People told me I was the double-handed specialist. This time I also showed that solo, I can do something. I'm really happy to win today. For seven days, it's going to be a real joy. Generally, I'm happy for a week, and then I move on to the next project. This race is still magical. There's been a crazy success in Saint-Malo. It's taken on colossal proportions and there are a lot of positive things. It's really a very, very beautiful race. I'm very proud to have put my name on the tablets for this edition. The boat is fantastic! It's a great joy. I'm getting back to business in a way. It was the opportunity to race with this boat which is great even if it had to be adapted quite a bit. Coming to this Route du Rhum and winning was a great challenge. We've been working on it for a year and a half with the team to get it up to standard, already. I'm proud to have won in a beautiful way with a rescue in the middle. But it was a very, very beautiful race. It's true that it's tough, but the end, the finish, the Antilles, it's fantastic. And then it's the 30th anniversary of my father's passing this year. We think of him every day. He left his mark on us in many ways. That's very important to me."

I was also able to add my own little touch to the Mediterranean, which I want to defend. It's important. It's a sea that must be protected because it's in danger almost more than the others, and I want to spend my time defending this cause ."