Transat Paprec: Cindy and Thomas' crazy week on Cap StBarth

On land, it's hard to imagine the skippers' daily lives. It's true that the installation of the Starlink satellite on the Figaro 3s, which enables them to receive continuous, or almost continuous, images, gives access to a new dimension of this race. But video and voice recordings are not yet capable of conveying the humidity seeping into the boat, the deafening sound of the wind whistling over the hull, or the indescribable adrenalin as the boat glides over the waves. For months, Cindy Brin has been preparing for this adventure with determination. She's given herself the means," emphasizes Francis Le Goff, race director. She came to Brittany to train. She's even enrolled her children in school in France. "But there's one thing Cindy didn't expect: an emotional rollercoaster. "It's going to sound sentimental or sissy, but all the emotions are multiplied tenfold on the boat and it's not easy," confides the Saint-Barthélemy native. Despite the great complicity between the two team-mates, the fact is that they've only known each other for a few months. "It's not as easy to give yourself over to someone you haven't known for a long time, even if you get on really well," adds Cindy. Add to that seasickness and rather unstable sailing conditions, and the cocktail is explosive.

"Seasickness is something you have to put up with".
The Cap Saint-Barth duo were affected by seasickness at the start of the adventure. While Le Breton recovered fairly quickly, Cindy was ill for over four days. "The only time I've ever been sick at sea was when I was pregnant," she says. The sailing instructor therefore set off serenely, despite Éric Péron's warnings: "If you don't get seasick, you're bound to get it on the transatlantic race. "For the first few hours of the race, everything went smoothly. But when the adrenalin and stress subside, Cindy is overcome by gagging. "We get seasick, because the maneuvers don't wait, the matossage doesn't wait," Cindy explains. We're not in shape, but we do it anyway, and when we're done we run outside to throw up. And off we go again. "Needless to say, Cindy didn't have much of an appetite during her four days.
She claims to have eaten around four meals in that time. To sustain themselves, the duo ate freeze-dried meals, which they didn't even bother to reheat. You have to fetch the stove from the bottom of the boat, which takes up a lot of space," reports Cindy. It saves us time and energy. "And on the boat, effort management is paramount. To be as efficient as possible, Thomas André and Cindy try to sleep as well as possible. Against all expectations, Cindy confides that she "sleeps relatively well". "I never thought I'd sleep so well on a boat, in conditions like these," she admits. Even if the mattress is very comfortable, the conditions are not necessarily right for a good night's sleep. The boat moves and vibrates," says Cindy. You can hear everything that's going on outside, so when the waves hit, it feels like something has smashed into the boat. It gets violent fast. "However, the duo seem to have got used to it, and are attacking the quarters in top form.

"I've never been so scared in my life".
Even so, the best nap in the world wasn't enough to prepare them for the "crazy night" they spent between Saturday and Sunday: "In terms of fright, on a scale of 1 to 10, I must have been at 100! I think I've never been so scared in my life. "The Cap Saint-Barth crew reached the La Palma stopover under full spinnaker. According to the files, the wind was set to strengthen to 27 knots. "In the end, it built to a crescendo. We hit the heap three or four times, and I found it extremely violent. Although Thomas didn't think it was so violent," says Cindy. We had to heave to about ten times before the two of us lowered the big spinnaker, and we nearly blew the whole thing! "For the sailing instructor, who had never sailed at more than 25 knots under spinnaker, conditions were extreme: "Personally, there were times when I felt like the boat was going to disintegrate! "Cindy insists, however, that this is just her point of view, and that her more experienced teammate Thomas André experienced the episode differently.

Between doubts and epiphany
Once the duo got back on track, and the pressure was off, Cindy broke down: "I cried my eyes out. "In a crisis situation like this, tension can rise between teammates. Things got a bit heated during the maneuvers," Cindy recalls. Afterwards, you go over everything in your head: you tell yourself you're no good, you question everything: the legitimacy of the project, why you were chosen. "Cindy has gone through many moments of doubt on this adventure. Particularly during the first few days of sailing, when the island native quickly took fright as the boat picked up speed. I haven't been sailing a Figaro for very long, and there are people next to me who have been doing it for years and who are professionals," she says. It's not easy to do everything you can and see the boats go off ahead. Morally, it's difficult. "After a week's racing, the rookie has slowly gained confidence in her abilities, under the watchful eye of her team-mate. Cindy is racking up more and more miles at the helm, it's getting better and better, and she's competing more and more with the others," says Thomas André. It's great to see her progress and gain confidence. It wasn't easy for her at first, and now we've just come off a shift where she's lit everyone on fire! "Whatever the recipe for this epiphany, it seems to be working, as the duo have nibbled away at the gap to their rivals, clinging on to third place in the rankings at the start of the week. And Cap Saint-Barth has no intention of stopping there. We intend to give it our all," says Cindy. We just need to have a little faith in our lucky star, and I'm convinced we have one. "If she continues to guide them with the same wisdom, and combines it with their determination, the arrival at the port of Gustavia promises to be Homeric.