Lhe ocean is sometimes able to take those who love it above all else. On Saturday, at the start of the afternoon, one of the divers from the Portuguese navy was finally able to access Jean-Jacques Savin’s boat, which had returned off the Azores. He found the body of the adventurer prisoner of the cabin, lifeless. He was trying to row across the Atlantic from Portugal. He had left the port of Sagrès on January 2 aboard “L’Audacieux” and he was counting on becoming the “dean” of rowing crossings after celebrating his 75th birthday in the open ocean on January 14.
Since Saturday, a…
Lhe ocean is sometimes able to take those who love it above all else. On Saturday, at the start of the afternoon, one of the divers from the Portuguese navy was finally able to access Jean-Jacques Savin’s boat, which had returned off the Azores. He found the body of the adventurer prisoner of the cabin, lifeless. He was trying to row across the Atlantic from Portugal. He had left the port of Sagrès on January 2 aboard “L’Audacieux” and he was counting on becoming the “dean” of rowing crossings after celebrating his 75th birthday in the open ocean on January 14.
Since Saturday, a black veil has settled over the Arcachon basin, where Jean-Jacques Savin was born and where he lived. Since Saturday, the announcement of Jean-Jacques Savin’s death has been on media websites around the world. Even Roxana Maracineanu, the Minister of Sports, published a tribute tweet: “He had a dream. The ocean got the better of it. Thoughts for Jean-Jacques Savin’s loved ones and family. “ Sophie Panonacle, the deputy of the Basin, published a press release in which she admits to being “saddened” and says “to keep the memory of a man of conviction, anxious to transmit his passion to the younger generations”. Adventurers, the real ones, those who put their lives on the line, have always made people dream. And sometimes cry, like today.
“Life at 100%”
The Arcachon basin is sad this Sunday. Jean-Pierre Lacoste, president of the Friends of Arésienne navigation association, had drawn the first plans for the barrel of his Atlantic crossing adrift in 2019: “When I was 25, he was 35 and he was already an adventurer, a big brother with whom we sailed and went fishing. We lost touch when he left for Africa, and I found him when he retired. He even remembers that Jean-Jacques Savin, a teenager, had climbed to the bell tower of the church in Arès by the lightning conductor!
“Jean-Jacques was a lifetime adventure. Life with a capital V. Life at 100% »
Jean-Pierre was a member of the team: “We helped him a lot, Raymond Lauvergne and me, with his barrel. We had installed electricity for it. For the canoe, bought second-hand, we intervened less. It was unsinkable, but had no keel and could overturn in heavy swells. There was a procedure to straighten it but you had to get out, put the canoe facing the wave. This Sunday, this is how he remembers Jean-Jacques: “He allowed us to dream, to find ourselves. He was a good guy who united around him and created links. For Raymond Lauvergne, “Jean-Jacques was a lifelong adventure. Life with a capital V. Life at 100%.
Christian Beaudru, Arésien too, was devastated this Sunday: “I met him in the spring. He had offered to take care of his communication during the crossing. We became friends. I remember his last video. It was in Ares, just before he left for Portugal. I listened to him like a little boy bewildered with admiration and he was already somewhere else, on the ocean. I remember his kindness, his tranquility. He never got angry. And then also with her soft, reassuring, padded voice. He wanted to challenge his 75th birthday, and get associations like Ela, handicapped children talking, and share his adventure with the schoolchildren who followed him. He was a man of sharing. »
An adventurer
Everyone remembers a helpful man, with his heart on his sleeve. Like Serge Perez, treasurer of the Arès Nautical Club: “A colleague had a 470 and had left with his 4-5 year old daughter. They had desalinated not far from the club, near Jean-Jacques’ boat. The father could not straighten the boat and the little one was crying clinging to the sailboat. Jean-Jacques dived without hesitation and helped them. He was always there to lend a hand. This club, which he adored so much and next to which he lived, also paid tribute to him: “Very sad news… We have lost a local figure and an adventurer who is going to join other great sailors. We will never forget everything he had accomplished, all his kindness and benevolence. »
“He loved Ares, the sea and sailing. He liked to live, to move. It is a great loss for Ares”
Pierre-Henri Surin, president of the Friends of the Aresian beaches, remembers Jean-Jacques as a volunteer: “He was a long-time friend, very much appreciated, always present when the cordgrass was uprooted. He was a fighter. He couldn’t stay still. He loved Ares, the sea and sailing. He liked to live, to move. It is a great loss for Ares. He was a well-known, respected and much appreciated person. »
Purebred Aresian
Éric Chadeyron, president of the Arès station of the National Society for Rescue at Sea (SNSM), met Jean-Jacques in 2010. He wanted to get involved: “He was only able to do it for a short time, taking into account the age limit. “The SNSM was always by his side:” For his first crossing of the Arcachon basin by swimming, he wanted to go straight and not go around the Ile aux Oiseaux, so he had brought skates and alternated swimming and walking on the mud! He was a very endearing, extraordinary character. »
“And there, going back to the Atlantic at 75, it’s an exceptional message that he sent us, isn’t it? »
Saturday afternoon, the mayor of Arès Xavier Daney visited the companion of Jean-Jacques. He also had Manon, his daughter, on the phone. He knew well “this endearing, atypical character, always full of ideas, projects, adventures, who absolutely did not look his age”. He remembers “his strong character, a pure Aresian” (his father was an oyster farmer in Arès). “We are going to let some time pass and the City, of course, will pay tribute to him, something related to his life and in agreement with his family. »
Jean-Jacques impressed everyone who knew him. Richard Bastide was one of his two routers during this rowing crossing. This Sunday, he is “destroyed”: “His whole life has been an adventure. There are these crossings but he also, for example, lived five months with the Pygmies! I also remember his smile, he was always smiling. His life gave energy to everyone. It’s like there, going back to the Atlantic at 75, it’s an exceptional message that he sent, isn’t it? »
Jean-Jacques Savin on the beach of Arès, with Maya, his adored dog, during the baptism of his canoe, last December.
Archives Brigitte Canovas