Mediterranean sailing is doing well. Two months after the victory of the Marseillais Pierre Quiroga in the Solitaire du Figaro, the Montpellier Achille Nebout took a nice fifth place in the Transat Jacques Vabre in Class40. This performance was all the more remarkable given that it was carried out on a previous generation boat, on which he was invited by Luke Berry (Lamotte-Module Création) for a 22-day race between Le Havre and Fort-de-France. “
We were very burnt on arrival,
admits the person concerned from Martinique.
The race was hard and physical because the weather was very uncertain. We made knots in our brains to find the best route.
"
Achille Nebout has been tracking his route alone for three years, scouring the Figaro circuit.
Hence a small personal satisfaction at the finish of the Transat: “
It's nice to finish first in the Figaristes, to arrive in front of the little friends that we found after the arrival of the Solitaire.
The Héraultais also distinguished himself on the latter by climbing on the podium (3rd) of the second stage towards Fécamp (17th place final).
A linear rise for the 31-year-old sailor who is starting to make a name for himself in the midst of increasingly fierce competition.
Read alsoPierre Quiroga, the ambitious winner of the Solitaire du Figaro
Virtual Regatta
Nebout, a name which gained popularity almost two years ago, when the interested party won a sponsor thanks to his good performances on Virtual Regatta. One of his competitors, boss of Amarris, spots him and sponsors him for the race (where he finishes the first certified boat) before continuing the adventure, alongside his other sponsor (Primeo Enegie). From virtual to real, and a scarcely common spotlight, the repercussions of which he notes with a smile: “
At the start of the Transat, they stop me because they know me through Virtual Regatta, they ask me for selfies.
"
Otherwise, Achille Nebout would have continued to canvass partners, "
that's part of the job
". His entourage describes him unanimously as a determined person. "
Achille is one of those sailors who have quality but also a fierce desire to overcome the many obstacles that present themselves to sailors
", summarizes the experienced Kito de Pavant, who admires this "
well-made head
". A great friend of his parents, the winner of the Solitaire du Figaro in 2002 has a front row seat to follow the progress of Achille Nebout, whom he has known since he was little. He even invited him for his first Transat Jacques Vabre in 2019 (7th in Class40). "
It was fantastic, a very beautiful story which testifies to the bond which unites Kito to our family since always
”, recalls Laurence, the mother of Achilles.
Read also A tense and bitter-tasting arrival for the sailors of the Transat Jacques Vabre
Achilles' heel
But their first joint sea trip dates back much longer, when Kito de Pavant, who was ferrying boats to the West Indies, took the Nebout family on board off Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Little Achilles was then two and a half years old.
"
This is where it all
started", rejoices her mother, an architect like her father, a "
fierce navigator
".
"
Somehow, I am somewhat responsible for the career he is embarking on today,"
notes Kito de Pavant.
He followed my adventures and was there on all my departures and arrivals.
I am undoubtedly the one who was the most determining in his choice of career.
"
Achille Nebout embarked as a child on the seas by Kito de Pavant and his family.
Nebout family
The future sailor scours the seas but begins with football before stopping, at the age of eight, due to a rare heel disease.
"
His first name must have something to do with it
," smiles his mother.
He needed a sport without support, sailing was perfect.
So he went on an Optimist to Carnon.
"
Detached port
Achille Nebout takes a liking to it.
And evolves.
The brilliant student trades his arranged music schedules for sailing in high school, the last vestige of his apprenticeship as a sailor in the Hérault.
At 18, he left Montpellier and divided his time between his engineering studies in Lyon and Marseille, where he perfected his skills at sea, until he became the French 420 dinghy champion in 2008. He has since followed an Olympic preparation. in dinghy 470 before Tokyo.
The youngest of the family - his brother and sister are "
absolute fans
" - leaves the ship and gives in to the sirens of Lorient.
To read also "A great moment of emotion ...": Bestaven and Le Cam decorated with the Legion of Honor after their legendary Vendée Globe
In Brittany, he joined his partner and benefited from an environment more conducive to ocean racing, still not very visible in the South. "
It's great, I live five minutes from the boat, I can launch it in a quarter of an hour and there are about fifteen of us to train… It's the Mecca of offshore racing"
, enthuses the one who has been moored in the port of Lorient for two years now. The South so dear to his heart is never far away, like his sail entirely dressed by the street artist from Montpellier Franck Noto or his collaboration with the Marseillais DJ French 79, as part of a mini-documentary titled “Solitaire (s)”, performed at sea. But this jack of all trades, which likes to “
open up
ocean
racing to other environments
” is now focused on sailing.
If, like Kito de Pavant, he would like the Mediterranean Class40 circuit project to succeed, Achille Nebout remains in Brittany to give himself the means to dream bigger.
Without rushing: “
We are necessarily starting to think about what to do next, but we will first have a good season in Figaro before taking stock in a year.
This admirer of François Gabart or Armel Le Cléac'h allows himself the right to grow at his own pace before being able to return the lift in the future, why not during a future Transat.
This is the meaning of history as Robin Christol, his long-time friend and now photographer, imagines it: “
He would like to have his own Class40 boat and then invite others in his turn.
"
