On Sunday at 1:02 PM, there will be two skippers from Nice on the starting line: Jean-Pierre Dick and Sébastien Josse. Both will set off with brand-new boats and have legitimate ambitions for success.
First place. That’s the position both Nice sailors are aiming for next January. Jean-Pierre Dick, on StMichel-Virbac, will be starting for the fourth time, while Sébastien Josse, on Edmond de Rothschild-Gitana, will be crossing his third starting line. In the game of best positions, the older Dick leads thanks to his 4th place in the previous edition after losing his keel 2,500 miles from the finish (about 4,500 km). As for Josse, he took 5th place in 2005 for his very first participation. They all dream of a podium finish, ideally the top step.
Dick, the determined one
For Jean-Pierre Dick, this Sunday will be his fourth adventure. The fourth time the Nice skipper, who came to sailing after transferring sailboats with his father between Nice and Corsica, will walk along the long channel of Port Olona. Having never made it to the podium (6th in his debut in 2005, abandonment in 2009, and 4th in 2013), the 51-year-old Azuréen hopes to break the bad luck.
“In 2013, my keel broke. I would have loved to compete against François Gabart and Armel Le Cléac’h. I had the boat and the form for it, and I feel the competition didn’t happen,” he explains on his official website. Despite a lukewarm 2016 (3rd in The Transat and 10th in New York-Les Sables after hitting an unidentified floating object the first night), Jean-Pierre Dick possesses a high-quality 60-footer, launched quite late, in September 2015.
“Participating in a Vendée Globe is still a privilege and a very strong emotion. It’s tough, the work with the team is immense, but now I’m eager to go, to cross that starting line, and hopefully the finish line as well,” said Dick during the Parisian presentation in September.
Josse focuses solely on winning
This Friday morning, during a press conference, a phrase stood out: “Going around the world is not my priority. I seek competition, first place. That’s the goal from the start,” Eight years after his abandonment off New Zealand when he was in the leading group, Sébastien Josse returns with a “fully ready” boat equipped with foils (seven are in this case).
Supported by Gitana Team and Edmond de Rothschild (the boat’s name), the 41-year-old native of Nice is one of the favorites, and his name often comes up at the top of the press room predictions. With a victory in the Transat St Barth-Port la Forêt and a second-place finish in the Transat New York-Vendée, he approaches his third Vendée Globe with a good dose of confidence, in the best conditions possible.
“On paper, the lineup is exceptional; we can name 6-7 contenders for victory. But the Vendée Globe sets its own rules, its own laws along the course,” he confided to the press.
Obstacles over two and a half months
Against competitors like Riou, Thomson, and Le Cléac’h, the locals from Nice, Josse and Dick, stand a good chance of being the first to sail up the channel in Les Sables in January. But first, they must navigate without mishap through the terrible and dreaded Southern Ocean, Cape Horn, while being cautious of the Bay of Biscay, prone to collisions on both the outbound and return journeys.
