A crew of stars. Like the Banque Populaire trimaran has never known before. For a cause he never knew about either. Transport the Olympic flame between mainland France and the West Indies where it will shine during the month of June. And to make this Atlantic crossing, Armel Le Cléac’h, the usual skipper of the giant, flying trimaran, will be able to count on four novice “sailors”, or not far off.
Unveiled this Monday at 1:30 p.m., the crew will be made up of Marie-José Pérec, the triple Olympic athletics champion, Marine Ltemporel, young doctor, Miss France 2023 and ambassador of Paris 2024, Alexis Michalik, the gifted theater artist and Hugo Roellinger, the two-star chef. And they will also share the crossing with Sébastien Josse, the well-known offshore racing sailor, who will carry out most of the maneuvers with Armel Le Cléac’h.
The latter, who has just completed a complicated world tour on his Ultim, admits to Le Figaro his joy at setting off with such personalities on board: “It’s incredible, I’ve never had a crew, apart from the sporting quality of sailor, also eclectic and talented. At the moment, I don’t know them, apart from Marie-José Pérec a little bit. The idea is really that they participate completely in the running of the boat. We’re going to do shifts of three. Afterwards, what we fear a little with Sébastien is that there will be one or two who are a little sick at sea when they leave, but with time, this will pass.
The big departure is therefore planned for June 7 from Brest for an arrival scheduled for June 15 in Guadeloupe. “We have planned a 36-hour margin on the crossing, we will slow down if necessary to be right on time at the finish,” confides the three-time winner of the Solitaire du Figaro, happy to carry the Olympic flame. It’s a real pride. And I will also take it on land on June 4 in Les Sables d’Olonne. Three days later, it will be a fabulous party, I am sure, upon departure from Brest, as upon arrival in Pointe-à-Pitre. It’s a responsibility too, and a mission to have the flame on board. It must not break. »
Alexis Michalik, who played the role of Olivier Kersauson in the last film about Florence Arthaud, also admits his “pride” to be part of such a team: “It’s an honor to carry the flame and to to put themselves at the service of such a project. This is going to be a human adventure, a team adventure and I love the troops. It’s great, we’re going to find ourselves with a crew and we have to live together for 7 days in the service of a project that is bigger than us. Afterwards, I ask myself questions on a personal level, am I going to get seasick, what am I getting myself into? But I like adventure and then I like to go outside my comfort zone, so that’s really the case”… The man who loves sport and going for tacks in windsurfing will discover another world and participate in highlighting the Olympic Games.
