3 questions for Jérémie Beyou: “The Runs are truly a magical moment”

You won the Défi here in 2023 with Franck Cammas on Charal. How did the partnership with Morgan come about?

"We had never really sailed together, but we often run into each other on the water while kiting or wingfoiling, and we have a good connection. His profile interested me because our approaches are very complementary. With Franck, in the end, we had the same kind of sailor–tinkerer profile. Now, with Morgan, the balance is different. He focuses on performance, while I concentrate more on strategy. He’s someone who thrives on numbers but still keeps a strong sense of feel."

Today marks the first Runs, a format you helped make so popular with the first IMOCA flights on Charal 1 back in 2018…

"Yes, the Runs are truly a magical moment. And credit where credit is due: it was Jean-Marie (Corteville) and Azimut who invented this format, which has since been widely adopted by many races. It was ahead of its time, and it’s true that with Charal 1 we put on quite a show in 2018. The boat had just been launched, and I can tell you that at the time, we were a bit overwhelmed by what was happening! The boat was rearing up, bucking, alarms were going off everywhere—it was intense! But the images went around the world. And the following year, once we had the boat’s manual figured out, we won it!"

Since the Vendée Globe, what improvements have you made to Charal in hopes of winning here and then in the Transat Café L’Or?

"We’ve worked on making the boat lighter, which was fairly easy, because in a round-the-world race you carry a lot of redundant gear. We’ve got new sails, and we’ve put a lot of effort into the steering system to make the boat easier to handle. The conclusion Morgan and I drew from recent transatlantic races is that steering ability, especially in the trade winds, can make the difference. That’s how Thomas (Ruyant) and his team won the last edition, and maybe even the one before. Autopilots have made huge progress, but they don’t sense when you’re right on the edge of stalling while foiling. The crashes are more violent than when you’re steering by hand. For that, you need a proper helm station and a rudder system that allows you to spend long hours at the wheel—something the boat’s original setup didn’t provide."