“As a child, I was more of the sweet little girl to her parents.
I was keen to please them and not to make history.
This did not prevent me from already having a strong character, forged by three older brothers and sisters well applied to this task, but I was still quite wise, a good student, and I think I was not asking too much of them. at work, I was naturally "on track" as we sometimes hear.
However, if there is one thing that I remember, it is my skin reaction when my mother asked me if I had any homework to do.
My homework, I did it naturally, and in return I was left alone on the subject.
So if unfortunately my mother was worried about not seeing me working, that had the immediate consequence of depriving me of any desire to work.
I remember this fury that took hold of me in such a way, I think about it now, quite disproportionate.
If it wasn't from me, then I didn't want to.
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Clarisse Crémer, new wave sailor
I am not sure that this corresponds to a very admirable character trait: to give myself fully I need it to come from me and I do not like to obey very much.
It was this character trait that I think drove me to go solo offshore racing.
On board my beautiful
Banque Populaire
, no one is telling me what to do.
Of course, I can discuss with my team to find technical solutions to the various problems, but ultimately it is I who decides the timing and the implementation.
Thankless jobs aboard a boat like this… (there are), there are a lot of them, every day.
When it's not things to fix, maneuvers aren't always fun.
But I decided on my own to be in this posture so I don't mind (or not too much) and I do what needs to be done.
Determination and surpassing oneself
If, during an exchange with the team, I am strongly suggested a certain procedure to repair something and that I do not like (most of the time because I am too tired or the procedure scares me, such as climbing the mast), I noticed that I always started procrastinating a little bit.
Not long, a few hours, just enough time for it to come from me and for me to find my way of functioning, of motivating myself.
Yesterday, for example, I spent over eight hours without a break working on the aerial which is supposed to show me the strength and direction of the wind.
If I had been listed at the start of the day the succession of tasks to be accomplished I would have felt discouraged, but here it was I who progressed as the problems arose and it was I alone who decided to continue further and always looking for a solution.
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VIDEO. Vendée Globe: when the skippers repair their mast at a height of 30 m
People often ask me why I chose the Solitaire and not the crew.
Well because quite simply I never find this level of determination and this desire to surpass myself other than when I'm alone.
That doesn't mean I can't be a hard-working teammate (I loved my years in college rugby!), But never have I surprised myself so much with strength and willpower as on my own.
It is this surpassing myself that attracts me, fascinates me and makes me proud at the finish.
I'm not convinced that this is a quality, but I don't like to be accountable, I don't like people to doubt my motivation.
Alone, I don't have to justify myself for anything, I can choose everything, I feel free from the eyes of others, I have nothing to prove to anyone except myself.
In the eyes of the world there is only the advance of my little boat on a map.
Deep inside me there is a tumult of emotions and will, long hours contemplating the ocean, an intimate magic in feeling so small on planet Earth, all of those things that I will have a hard time tell at the end.
"