Finally - the Bruce Farr design Open 60

The Daily Sail catches up with Jean-Pierre Dick and the radical new Virbac

Jean-Pierre Dick

Unlike many of the competitors the Virbac skipper will be up against in next year's Vendee Globe, Jean-Pierre Dick doesn't come from a solo sailing background. "I am more of a round the buoys racer," he admitted to The Daily Sail as we supped cappucino overlooking Auckland's Viaduct Basin.

Dick was part of the French Admiral's Cup team in 1987 skippering Centurion-Musclor, the former Jade. After that he took to one design racing in a big way. He competed at the top level in J/24s coming second and third in European Championships and taking part in three world championships in this class. He was also in the European championship winning team in the Beneteau First Class 8s in 1993 and was Melges 24 national champion in France in 2000.

But Jean-Pierre Dick is best known in France for racing in the Tour de France a la Voile. He has sailed the event 10 times. Crewing for Jimmy Pahun he won in 1992 and in 2001 he finally won the event outright as skipper.

"After the Tour de France I said I want to do something a little different," says Dick. And he certainly is.

"This project is quite ambitious. The real goal is to be among the best for the next Vendee. The attraction of the Vendee is a technical one. I think these boats are a challenge but the Vendee is becoming a regatta, a real race. It is not an adventure anymore. And the second thing is the human factor because it is really a tough thing to do.

"So the Vendee is my goal. I don't want to cruise round because I have a competitive background. But I think that I don't have great offhore experience. My forte is that I have large experience in how to make boats fast. So I think what is important in this project is to be well organised. Key factors are timing and making sure the money is well spent."

Dick's team comprises many of his long term sailing buddies including Nicolas Abiven formerly of the Corum Team, America's Cup sailor, North Sails' Laurent Delage and Philippe Michel, all of who he met during the Admiral's Cup. With communications expert Luc Talbourdet, they form the core of the Virbac team.

Last year was his baptism of fire in the Open 60 class. He chartered Michel Desjoyeaux's PRB for the year and campaigned her in the fully crew Regate de Rubicon and then in windy Route du Rhum, when the boat was dismasted. However sailing the Vendee Globe winner, did give him and his team some good ideas for their new boat.

Dick says he chose Farr because he was impressed by the degree to which they study yacht design. "We were comfortable with the way they were thinking. At the start we had to persuade them it was a good project because my experience was inshore. But I think they understand the project now and they felt it was worthwhile investing the time. And they want to know more about these rules."

Jean-Pierre Dick (left) with Bruce Farr and Mick Cookson



Building the boat in New Zealand, was not only cheaper than Europe, but will enable Dick to sail it back to Europe. This will allow him to get some more miles sailing offshore and to improve necessary skills vital for the Vendee Globe such as sleep management, meteorology and being able to carry out running repairs in the field. He is working with French met expert Jean-Yves Bernot on the weather. Unusually he is not going to sail the boat back via Cape Horn but in the opposite direction via the Cape of Good Hope and then into the South Atlantic trades.

He made the call to build at Cooksons on the advice that money spent initially in a quality build, would result in saving money later in the program, as well as giving the boat better resale value.

Dick is also having to make the transistion from being a serious amateur yachtsman to being a pro. Professionally he is a vet and the family company, Virbac, based in the south of France and was set up by his father Pierre Richard Dick and makes medicine for pets and animals. The company is large - they has subsiduaries in 23 countries, sell into more than 100 countries and employ more than 2,000 people. It is listed on the Nasdaq exchange, although Dick's family is still the majority shareholder.

Aside from Virbac Dick is still looking for sponsors in addition to the ones he already has on board such as the insurance company Generali and the Var department in France.

Once back in Europe, Dick plans to enter the boat in the two handed Transat Jacques Vabre later this year. He has yet to announce his crew for that event.