Vendée Globe 2024: Benjamin Ferré, the world from all angles

Bulimic, Benjamin Ferré? After a hitchhiking trip around the world, crossing the Atlantic on a sextant, a 4L Trophy or even an expedition to Antarctica, the sailor will begin his first Vendée Globe on November 10. Leaning against his cockpit, between two requests from the Sables-d’Olonne public, the skipper with blond highlights and an Ultra Brite smile assures us: “I’m not sure I’ll be full of projects for the rest of my life. I’ve always been quite in a hurry to get things done, but the more time passes, the more I yearn to take the time. »

It is undoubtedly difficult for the man of a thousand lives to plan after the Vendée Globe, as the race represents the ultimate adventure for him. “It is the last space of absolute freedom, it is the last great human adventure, slips the 34-year-old Breton, his eyes full of emotion. I was lulled by the stories of Mermoz by Joseph Kessel, or the adventures of Magellan, very young, and it carried me. »

A solo race but for two

Between two books there is also a statue of Saint Christopher, patron saint of travelers, near his card table. At his side, and all along the boat, his companion’s grandmother hid a whole pile of miraculous medals, as if to help him before his time. Coming from a Catholic family and a believer himself, Benjamin Ferré knows that solo adventure has its spiritual side. “It’s not trivial to spend three months alone, without seeing anyone, he confides. Beyond religion, it is an important inner adventure. »

The skipper will not really be alone during this adventure. He takes with him the memory of Théophile, the son of his navigator friend Jean-René Guilloux, who died after a skiing accident, just as Benjamin Ferré was launching his Vendée Globe project. The first name of the young man, who disappeared far too soon, is now that of the boat which is preparing to face the most hostile seas. “We promised ourselves that Théophile would travel around the world, confides, moved, the navigator, I have the feeling that we are going to sail a bit as a duo. »

Spotlight anxiety

As it stands, his boat sticks with those of his competitors, in the port of Sables-d’Olonne. The opportunity for him to deliver his prediction: “No one normally constituted can say “I’m going to win the Vendée Globe”he insists. And that’s precisely what makes the beauty of the race: you can be the best prepared person, there is a factor that comes into play and which is very random, it’s nature. » For him, the objective is clear: finishing the race will already be an achievement. Leaving the most beautiful trace possible will be the icing on the cake.

The founder of Imago, an incubator where different generations work hand in hand to make adventure projects accessible to all, never seems frustrated. Contrary to what his career might suggest, he does not shy away from classic life, on earth, as long as it is not part of a redundant daily life. “As always in life, it is by knowing deprivation that you savor what exists, philosopher the sailor. Life at sea does not distance me at all from life on land, on the contrary, it brings me closer to it because the very simple moments of everyday life, which we tend to forget, take on a sacred dimension. »

For a long time, his projects were made on a whim. His hitchhiking trip around the world? “Decided in a week. » His crossing of the Atlantic on a sextant? “In twenty-four hours, after a drunken evening! » But now, at only 34 years old, and as the stress of leaving mounts, he almost regrets “carelessness” of his 20 years. From now on, Benjamin Ferré fears the exposure that results from his participation in the Vendée Globe. “The semblance of notoriety, the spotlight, it impacts you but also those around you, he explains. It creates an imbalance in my family. The spotlight is put on me, while I am the first to admire the journey of my brothers and sisters. »

With his absences, his taste for adventure, the skipper is aware of it: his decisions do not only weigh on him, but also on those close to him. “I’m lucky to have friends who forgive me a lot for my absences, and it’s true that I miss moments of life, weddings, baptisms, evenings,” he lists. After this moment of doubt, the sailor comes to his senses. “In fact, people close to you don’t care if you do the Vendée Globe, he says. They are happy if you flourish, but they don’t need you to tell them your travel story, they leave you this previous life. They need to know you are present in the moment, with them. » A challenge worthy of the man, even if for three months he intends to remain uncontactable.

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