Violette Dorange, 23, is preparing to travel to New York. But not by plane, nor for vacation. Sunday April 28, like thirty-two other competitors, of which she will be the youngest, the engineering student from the National Institute of Applied Sciences (INSA) in Rennes with the tangy surname will take the start of The Transat CIC (formerly the English Transat) , in Lorient (Morbihan), for a solo ocean sprint of 3,500 miles (6,482 kilometers), on an 18-meter sailboat.
Ten days of sailing with contrary winds and currents, freeze-dried meals simmered on a stove, tête-à-tête with weather files, micronaps on a beanbag, bucket for toiletries. And a breathtaking view of the North Atlantic, its fog and its floating ice cubes…
“I need to complete this deckchair as well as the one back [qui part le 29 mai de New York vers les Sables-d’Olonne (Vendée)] to continue to get to know my boat and qualify for the Vendée Globe: the Holy Grail, the Olympic Games for offshore racers”, breathes the young woman as she welcomes us off the coast of Port-la-Forêt, her Finistère base, aboard her monohull Become, D for Dorange, V for Violet.
“We have just tested the new sails in some very rotten upwind conditions. [fort vent de face] and the boat sank perfectly, she continues, her ponytail disheveled and simmering in her salt-washed shift overalls. This night validates the three and a half months of winter work during which we completely stripped it. »
Born in the land
On the 10e edition of the Vendée Globe, a solo, non-stop and unassisted round-the-world race which will start from Les Sables-d’Olonne on November 10, the 1.60m young woman should be the youngest competitor ever entered. As with every solo event she has undertaken so far.
Despite her precocity, Violette Dorange has not missed any stage. Born inland, in Charente-Maritime, and trained in dinghy sailing on Optimist (dinghy of 2.40 meters by one meter), from the age of 7, at the Société des régates rochelaises, the model student of the sports section studies at the Jean-Dautet high school in La Rochelle then signed, with his teammate Camille Orion, three podiums at the youth world championships on 420 (4.20 meter dinghy). But, for her, the day’s regatta between three buoys lacks salt.
The fault of his parents, Arnaud and Carole, country veterinarians and school friends of Jean-Pierre Dick, the “vet” winner of four Jacques Vabre transatlantics and two Barcelona World Races (double-handed world tour), which also has four Vendée Globe to his credit. “As a child, at all her race starts, I swept her boat, and then at 14, I decided not to wait until I was big to do big things,” smiles Violette.
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