Jean-Pierre Dick and Loick Peyron Q&A

We chew the cud with the Barcelona World Race winners

Jean-Pierre Dick and Loick Peyron have landed on terra firma in Spain, winners of the Barcelona World Race aboard their VPLP-Verdier designed, Cookson-built steed, Virbac Paprec 3. Read more about the boat herself here.Their victory, Dick's second in this race, was significant as their boat was the only new generation IMOCA 60 to survive the non-stop round the world race.

Dick, while 'only' having sailed in the class for a decade since he entered the 2002 Vendee Globe on his first Paprec-Virbac, is today one of the most experienced skippers in the class, while Loick Peyron has one of the longest sailing CVs in France including the first Vendee Globe, when he finished second, a lengthy tenure at the top of the ORMA 60 class when he won two OSTARs/Transats, a return to the IMOCA 60 class when he won the Artemis Transat on Gitana Eighty and a stint as back-up helmsman for Ernesto Bertarelli aboard Alinghi 5 during the 33rd America's Cup. 

TheDailySail: So have you recovered a little?

Jean-Pierre Dick: We had a little fiesta. Me more than Loick

Loick Peyron: A lot more...!

JPD: ....with our family, so that is nice. If you don’t do the fiesta now, you never do it.

TDS: Were you pleased with your performance? Winning is good...

JP: Winning is good, but there is the manner of winning and we were particularly pleased that we had the impression that we controlled the performance. We had this nice feeling that we could win the race because we were a good team and we had a good boat too.

LP: We were quite confident...

JP: ....so it is nice this feeling of being dominant. I am particularly happy about that. Of course it is a lot of work to do a boat like this, but I think we did a good job. And also the relationship with Loick is great. Because now it is a long term relationship and it is great to live this story, because it is an adventure basically. Anything could happen.

[For the last IMOCA 60 cycle Dick and Peyron built Gitana Eighty and Virbac Paprec 2 alongside one another and Peyron has previously raced doublehanded with Dick when they won the Transat Jacques Vabre in 2005].

TDS: I don’t think Christine [Loick's wife] has spent that much time with him!

LP: You’re right! In a row, no!

TDS: The important thing in this race is to finish and your three main competitors [Foncia, Groupe Bel and Jean le Cam's President] didn’t finish... Some of it is luck, but what can you do to manage that?

LP: As J-P says, you can have some minor damage and some major damage. So the major ones – we all know the only way is to stop and with the minor ones, if you are allowed to stop, which was the case, we have done it. In any kind of mechanical sport, it is part of the result. You have a number of boats and cars at the start and you have less at the end.

TDS: But how do you manage that?

JPD: It has been tough because we had two races in a row [Route du Rhum straight into the Barcelona World Race]. And the success of the project was also the fact that we brought back the boat from Auckland. That was one of the key points for our success - we could construction the boat, so it is a latest generation.

LP: ...which we did last time

TDS:....and the time before...

[Dick has had all three of his IMOCA 60s, two Farr designs and most recently his VPLP-Verdier built in New Zealand and has then delivered them back to France on their own bottom as a 'shakedown cruise']

JPD: ...and there is a good timing with this Barcelona World Race, because each time we had a new boat with half a world tour done just before. And it worked quite well.

LP: It is interesting because if you had to choose to build a boat in France, you don’t have the obligation to do a half trip like that.

JPD: We are the only team to do that now and actually it is a lot of hassle, because it is much more simple to put the boat on a cargo ship and for me it is a lot of commitment and Loick came...

LP: ...but that is efficient...

JP: ...and for sure it is tough, but in the end it is worth it, even if it is a long lasting difficult thing. But I like long lasting, difficult things.

TDS: It is like a trial. You are walking half the course...

JPD: Maybe we saw 70% of the problems and we solved them...

LP: It is impossible to not have problems when you launch a new boat as we all know. It is a problem machine. But that [the delivery half way around the world] is a good way to solve them before the start. But it doesn’t mean we didn’t have some problems - two years ago we were both of us out of the Vendee Globe with trouble; mast and rudders and whatever. It doesn’t mean he isn’t going to have some trouble on the next one, because it could happen any time. But the way to manage the boat itself: To push or not to 100% or more, it was interesting for sure. In the Indian Ocean when suddenly Foncia wasn’t there [after she broke the top of her mast shortly after entering the Southern Ocean]. It was quite funny to feel that.

JPD: It wasn’t good on board, because we like the competition. We knew the result was better for us, but that was not good.

LP: We were like a chicken looking at an omelette. What are we doing? Are we going to still push, sail, race, cruise? If you lose the rhythm, it could be dangerous.

TDS: So did you change gear at all? Presumably you backed off a bit?

LP: For sure we backed off a little bit, because we were pushing..

JPD: ...we were in the red actually, so we went a little bit less.

TDS: And it [Foncia's mast breakage] came just after you broke the 24 hour record?

JPD: Loick was right: In this type of the duel [when Foncia and VP3 were match racing] both the boats are being pushed quite hard and one way to exceed that is that the other boat has a problem, or he has more problems because you [both] are pushing more. If they are going quicker you want to put up more sail but if you put up more sail you can break more things.

LP: So hopefully we did very well to push them beyond the limit...

TDS: So their mast break was your fault?!

LP: Actually yes. Without us, the race result could have been a lot different.

TDS: What was it like on board for your 24 hour record?

JPD: Actually it was quite alright...

LP: As we all know - all the speed records are quiet. You can’t beat any record unless it is in perfect wind and swell conditions. We just had a little swell, quite flat water – it was perfect conditions and the boat didn’t suffer.

JPD: And you have to be quite lucky to have the same conditions for 24 hours. For example we had 21 knots for every sched – if we had only one of 20 knots, then we wouldn’t have broken the record. So it is quite tricky. We only broke the record by 4.5 miles.

TDS: That part of the South Atlantic is good for record breaking.

LP: Was it the same place for Hugo Boss?

TDS: It was for ABN AMRO Two

LP: The first low, just under St Helene?

JPD: We were surprised because it was the first real low we had.

TDS: You have made the transition from Farr designs to VPLP-Verdier and there is a new set of IMOCA class rules – how does the new boat feel different to the old one when you sail her?

JPD: They are two different things – you have the philosophy of the architects of the boats and the rule change. The two things are intricate. The height of the mast is less, so the boats are a little bit handicapped in the light winds, but you don’t have a lot of light winds.

TDS: We didn’t really see that too much in this race...

LP: The shape is a bit different, but the structure [of VP3] seems to be better for sure. It is more rigid. They invested quite a lot in that.

JPD: The boat is more high tech with the materials. It is higher modulus [carbon in the hull] and the honeycomb is more sophisticated.

LP: It is a lot lighter and because of the fin keel too. And the other thing is the rig is really different compared to the previous boat.

JPD: We did a good job with Southern Spars. I wanted to have a lighter mast and less drag... [Virbac Paprec 3 has a fixed rig whereas the previous boat has a rotating wing mast, similar to Mike Golding's set-up on Ecover]

LP: It is like what we did with Gitana last time compared to Virbac:the difference between those sisterships was especially in the rig. And they have done very well this time with the rig. After that, it looks like a smaller boat, lighter, but with more power, or able to be more powerful with the ballast system, with slightly different ballast [tank] positions compared to the Farr. It is an easier boat to manage I think.

JPD: But this comparison is a bit unfair considering that Farr hasn’t done a new generation boat.

LP: You’re right.

JPD: Their boats are very good. Either Gitana or Virbac could have both won the Vendee easily.

LP: They won the Barcelona World Race, the Transat and a lot of races with Farr boats...

JPD: I think with Loick we could have won this race with a Farr boat too...

TDS: So are the boats becoming more even now, between the new and the old generations? They were quite close in this race...

JPD: The new boats are superior.

LP: I guess they are. Maybe not in really light winds. Not with Mapfre. Gitana was a very very interesting boat in light winds, very fast. I had this feeling last time. Compared to the last generation. Like JP says - each year you have something new, but the new Virbac is very interesting. As I have said many times - the goal is not to have the fastest one but it is never to have the slowest one in any wind conditions. Upwind it seems to be very efficient with a lower CoG.

TDS: And the [curved, lifting] foils – thumbs up/thumbs down?

LP: That is another question.

JPD: It is not obvious.

LP: It is not clear. My first feeling when I saw that on Safran four years ago was not very clear. I was not very impressed with that for a lot of reasons and I’m still not sure.

TDS: It is just a trend maybe? Does it affect the pitching?

LP: You don’t have the lever arm, it is a lot less. On a multi you have half the width of the boat so there is a big effect. When you have any kind of lift just near your CoG it doesn’t affect it much. But on a monohull it is not easy to feel the difference. On a multi you can feel it. On Gitana we worked a lot to try and feel something, but it was not easy. Sometimes it is good. It is not yet done.

JPD: It is not an easy subject.

LP: On this boat we know that there is a big job still.

TDS: Maybe it is too much added complexity? But the biggest difference between the new boat and your old one is the weight?

JPD: We were 9 tonnes [Virbac Paprec 2].

LP: And we made it a bit lighter because we chose some lighter solutions.

JPD: Compared to the new boat, it [VP2] was more than one tonne heavier. The feeling is very different.

LP: You can win half a tonne very easily with the keel if you chosen steel or carbon or somewhere in between which is what we have done.

TDS: High tensile steel... And there is more to be got out of the boat prior to the Vendee?

JPD: For sure. If you look at what we did on the last Virbac and Gitana, the boats evolve all the time. So there is more to do. With the team we are focussing on that.

LP: The gain is not necessarily to be faster but for singlehanded in the Vendee Globe it is to never be the slowest.

JPD: And to try and do everything not to stop. And to work on something which is better all-round, because that is faster, especially solo, when you can’t do everything all the time.

TDS: The set up of the boat is different for the Barcelona World Race doublehanded and the Vendee Globe which is singlehanded? Or is it just more food?

JPD: More food. Actually this VP3 is a very good boat for the Barcelona World Race, because you have the steering cocoon both sides which are very useful for doublehanded.

LP: We were supposed to steer a lot more doublehanded, which in fact we did most of the time. Most of time when it was better to steer, we did.

JPD: In the Vendee the advantage of having this system - where you can steer without having waves coming over you - is less useful than it is doublehanded [because you don’t steer as much singlehanded]. We spent a lot of time doing the ergonomics – it is not easy to have a steering system in the middle of the cockpit because you have the winches and the pedestal, so to be seated in the middle is a lot of work [which is why they haven't done it]. We did a 1:1 scale mock-up because it is tricky.

TDS: Are you pleased with the steering pod arrangement? Someone was saying you get wet from the back

JPD: It is a little bit wet.

LP: You don’t get water in from the back, but you get spray. So we have little curtains. It was perfect! That is why I didn’t have to wear a top at 46degS. You are burning.

TDS: It is a greenhouse!

LP: Yes, a sauna. To dry the boat – that is very interesting. That is why when we broke the port one [pod], in one second life on board changed dramatically.

JPD: It was completely different...

LP: We broke the bubble in the Indian Ocean in the storm as we were fighting to pass the gate. We asked a new one to be sent from France and it was there in Wellington and we popped it in.

TDS: The rules about the stopovers are correct?

LP: I guess so.

TDS: You don’t want competitors planning to stop

LP: No, we don’t want that.

TDS: The penalty is about right?

LP: Yes

JPD: It is about right.

LP: We were quite lucky with the weather conditions when we left Wellington. When the other guys stopped, it was in the middle of a high pressure.

JPD: You don’t want to have a penalty that is too hard because otherwise there is no race anymore. Even if we were lucky because we stopped first and we restarted first - which was incredible after just half the race - if we hadn’t had that luck we would still have been in the race, but maybe 200 miles behind or something and we could have gained again which would have been good.

TDS: But allowing outside assistance is good in this race, while it isn’t permitted in the Vendee Globe?

JPD: We think so. With the Vendee Globe that is part of the initial setting of the race where they say there is ‘no assistance’. It would be difficult to change and it is part of the story. It is fundamental. But that is not the case with this race.

LP: And for the interest of the race...

JPD: If we had had the opportunity to stop in the last Vendee Globe, the race would have been more interesting. The only problem is - what would I have done? Stopped on an island? I wouldn't have had my shore team. 

LP: Actually I’m not sure it would have changed a lot of things in terms of results [in the last Vendee Globe]

JPD: Delta Dore could have solved their [broken spreader] problems in Brazil, but they couldn’t and it would have been better for their sponsor [which has since pulled out, as have Generali and BritAir]

LP:... that is the main reason.

JPD: I could have stopped in New Zealand but I wouldn’t have been able to win the race.

TDS: On board did you share everything, you both navigated?

JPD: We shared everything which was good.

LP: A good doublehanded crew - there are other ways of doing it - are two singlehanded guys. So we each know how to manage the boat alone. When you have to manage it alone you have to do everything so it is natural for us to do everything. After that there are some specialities for sure but we know how to do that and after that, for example he is a lot stronger than me. So there are times when you put specialities to use, but it is a lot better to share everything.

TDS: Even the navigation and routing?

JPD: One time he was doing it and I was just grabbing the information. But the thinking was common. Twice a day we discussed it.

LP: It is easier. When you do it yourself, you have your own view. And the other one does the same work and has his own view and you are not surprised and you know what he is talking about. We were speaking a lot about that.

JPD: With Damian [Foxall, who sailed with Dick in the first Barcelona World Race] it was a bit different, because he was much better at the crewwork and trimming sails but a little less experienced in navigation. He was at a very good level but not at the level I was because I needed to be good at that and he hadn’t needed to do that. Because we [JPD and Loick Peyron] are both singlehanded sailors, we are basically at the same level of navigation, maybe not interpretation but at least being able to do the navigation.

TDS: How many thousands of miles have you sailed now over such a short time?

JPD: I don’t know!

LP: In IMOCA I’m pretty sure he [JPD] has sailed the most in the time. On each new boat he did half way around the world, Barcelona World Race and Vendee Globe again. He is mad....