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On the pontoon in Concarneau, Cindy Brin (Cap St Barth) was asked to give one quality to describe her teammate Thomas André. "His dynamism, he's always going all out," the island native declared without hesitation. "So when I'm feeling down, it gives me a boost." Throughout the adventure, the spectators of the Transat Paprec also got to know Thomas's unwavering smile: even when he was soaked from head to toe and in 30 knots of wind. On Wednesday, April 30, the Breton was delighted with their place in the top three: "We're super happy, we didn't think we'd be in such a good position, it's a nice surprise. We're showing that we know how to move quickly, so obviously the mood is pretty good on board." » Thomas regularly shared his daily life on the Figaro 3 Cap Saint-Barth, such as when he secretly filmed his teammate sleeping or when he explained what the "mastossage" (moving weights on the boat to optimize balance) involved. "I wouldn't want to be in her shoes," the young athlete commented when Cindy was applying first aid to his injured foot.
"It's a real headache."
Then for two days, there was radio silence. Neither Cindy nor Thomas gave any news between Friday and Sunday morning. In a hoarse voice, the Breton picked up the camera again to film himself in front of the computer, demonstrating the different possible routings: "It's a real headache, because right now, we have a big soft spot. Needless to say, it's going to tighten things up, and we have no idea how it's going to end." » The uncertainty of the weather conditions shook the Breton's morale, as well as his confidence in his ability to choose the right trajectory: "We sailed backwards last night, including one that wasn't favorable to us at all. We're really disappointed about that." Arriving in the windless zone further destabilized the skippers, who were powerless in the face of such a situation and forced to wait and see. "We can't wait for it to be over, because it's too stressful!" sighed Thomas. While they had taken a considerable lead over the other competitors, this light zone blocked their progress and therefore allowed the rear group to catch up. A difficult situation for the leaders to digest. "Personally, it was a bit hard to take knowing that we were going to be caught anyway," admitted Thomas. "Now that it's almost over, things are better. It's easier to be back in attack mode." »
Cooking and Cleaning Workshops
This Monday, the Breton was smiling again in front of Cindy's camera. The two skippers of Cap Saint-Barth took advantage of the lull to clean up. "We thought we'd do a little cleaning because the boat smelled of death," explains Cindy. "In the Sargassum family, we look for dead crabs and fish." With the help of a video, the sailor films the marine animals caught in the boat's nets. The two skippers ended up playing a game of "rock-paper-scissors" to decide which of them would finish the cleaning. "Well, it's my turn," concluded Thomas, his eyes smiling. "We haven't really had time to settle down since the start of the race, and I think it showed in our behavior," he notes. "Of course, we would have preferred to have had wind all the way to the end." But whatever happens, the weather is still lulling, and we're taking advantage of it to take care of ourselves!" The Breton took out the stove for the first time during the adventure to enjoy a freeze-dried meal at the beginning of the week. "When it's 30 degrees, I cook hot food," he joked, improvising a rough Italian accent. Cindy, for her part, is starting to get tired of just eating peanuts for breakfast. "I've already planned a cheeseburger and vanilla ice cream for the finish," the instructor added.
"The best is yet to come."
A sign that morale has returned to a high, Thomas briefly transformed into a sports journalist to comment on the race, whose turnaround suggested a new start: "Welcome to the Cap St-Barth boat for this live coverage of the start of the Transat Paprec 2025. It's an excellent start in the middle of the Atlantic for a fun race lasting about four days." A few boats have unfortunately fallen a little behind, but that doesn't matter for the rest of the day. Let's go!" Joking aside, the Cap Saint-Barth duo hasn't lost sight of the final objective and is impatiently waiting for the wind to return. "Give us some wind so we can arrive faster and especially before the others!" implored Thomas. The skippers are in the starting blocks to try to maintain their place in the leading group. "It's coming back strong behind, we're hanging on and giving it our all for the last 380 miles," explained Cindy. After such an adventure, there is no
