Second in the last edition of the Route du rhum (beaten by 7 minutes by Francis Joyon) in 2018, François Gabart thought he could take his revenge four years later.
But his new giant 32-meter trimaran has not yet been deemed compliant.
While the controversy rages with his rivals in the Ultim class, the sailor confides in
Le Figaro
his determination to fight what he considers to be an injustice...
Le Figaro. – How are you, François, at the heart of this controversy?
Francois Gabart
.
– I would say in great shape.
I am determined to uphold the law and our rights.
We still have the will to open the door but it is difficult to find a solution to move forward in a constructive way.
Your press release on Friday was rather incendiary…
We think that the best thing to solve the problem is for the reality to be presented and for us to judge with as many elements as possible.
We hope that this transparency will eventually pay off.
We built our boat in the most transparent way possible, the Ultim class measurer and the representative of the French sailing federation checked our boat during its construction and considered it compliant afterwards, and again after additional expertise requested by the class itself.
Our competitors do not follow these expert reports, which we do not find fair.
I believe in common sense, in truth.
All this must be analyzed fairly.
Francois Gabart
Your rivals appeal to the arbitration of World Sailing, the international federation. What do you think ?
World Sailing is competent to write the rules but it is not intended to judge the conformity of our trimaran.
It leaves the application of its rules to the federations and the classes.
I do not dispute the rules of World Sailing, we respect them and we are in compliance with these rules.
And the arbiter to follow is the French sailing federation and the Ultim class surveillance committee, which have the authority to judge the conformity of our boat.
It's hard not to respect these referees.
Our adversaries have not respected them since they are going to look for others.
What solution do you recommend then to get out of the impasse?
The solution is to assert the right of legitimate bodies.
It is necessary to follow the conclusions of the reports of the surveillance committee of the Ultim class which is not listened to by the office of this same class which is no longer impartial.
I always have a hope, I am an optimist.
I believe in common sense, in truth.
All this must be analyzed fairly.
If this is not the case, if we have no choice and we have to go to court, we will do what is necessary.
We will fight for the right to be at the start of the Route du rhum.
This testifies to a determination to keep us apart.
Francois Gabart
Are you ready to make modifications to your boat?
Today, we are told that we have a compliant boat and we have already made a lot of modifications this winter in terms of safety.
And we are ready to do others if necessary from a regulatory point of view, but not today on a non-compliance announced by our competitors.
This testifies to a relentlessness to separate us.
Our interpretation of the rule has been validated by the French federation.
And if we had to redo a central hull, I'm talking about the conditional, it would be a colossal job that wouldn't allow us to be at the start of the Route du rhum.
Not to mention the costs, it would be too dangerous in terms of development.
This situation is totally incomprehensible...
