Yvan Bougnon's circumnavigation in a beach cat project

[Blackburn]

The link was working for some reason they moved it. Yvan was mentioning something about one of his sponsors leaving the project. The link no longer contains "SMA" maybe they were the sponsor who left?

SMABTP were title sponsor and did drop out, about coincidentally with the crew abandoning ship?

SMABTP is in the insurance business. Had their logo all over the boat. I can't imagine what caused their withdrawal...

...

Here's a link to a French radio segment last fall roasting Bourgnon (all in good fun).

TANGUY PASTUREAU : YVAN BOURGNON EST UN GRAND MALADE

 

[W17 designer]

sponsor

Insurance giant - main sponsor SMA-BTP, dropped out just before Xmas 2013, after Yvan arrived in Martinique. Hopefully, this is not another pullout. Perhaps he needs to start an internet fund raising campaign!
After all, the Jamaican Bobsleigh team (yes ... you read correctly!!) managed to raise $100,000 like that in just 2 days, to get them to Sochi this year! (Of course, the John Candy film on them did no harm).

 

[Blackburn]

^^^

On his Facebook page, there's an entry dated Jan 21. where Yvan is soliciting anyone interested in becoming main sponsor. The aspect of the project which is most dependent on more sponsorship is the support boat, he says, which is described as an X562 (X-Yacht).

Got to run, kids need a chauffeur!

 

[W17 designer]

Support boat

If that's still valid ... here's an X-562

 

[Blackburn]

.


Samedi 8 février, 14h 30 :

" Grosse tempête, 6 mètres de creux... " Yvan


LINK

(that was about an hour ago)

 

[W17 designer]

construction

Thought readers might find these early construction shots of Yvan's boat of interest. Helps to appreciate general ruggedness. Perhaps someone would like to pinpoint the glass used that gives the close transverse lines, seen in last photo (when enlarged). Probably the binding threads for lengthwise UNI is my guess.
mike

 

[Blackburn]

^^^

Looks like a thick unidirectional, I agree. The boat looks very solid. And intended for two people to sail of course.

I found an article detailing Bourgnon's stipulations re. the design, it's in a backlog of stuff I've been reading, which is becoming more than I wanted to know.

...

Watching the tracker I'm again both impressed and worried for Yvan's situation. Tonight he exceeded 1000 nm on this leg, at the moment he's done 1022nm. That is a lot on an open boat alone. If the seas have been as large as he said (~6 meter waves) then I wonder how he could have gotten any sleep all last night and today. And now he's sailing at night again with only slightly less wind according to the tracker.

...

If you search during the past month for 'Vincent Beauvarlet' , then a number of unpleasant items turn up.

 

[Blackburn]

.

According to the tracker, Yvan Bourgnon will complete this leg from Martinique to Panama in less than an hour.

I haven't seen any additional written description about the last couple of days yet, there was an audio interview posted on his Facebook today (the 9th) but it sounded like Bourgnon was gargling all the time as he muttered away in French so I turned it off.

But now that he's ashore there's bound to be a better update soon on his event website.

One of the people commenting on his facebook page said that he'd be gaining a new co-skipper, Jacques Vincent, but perhaps that was joking reference to his autopilot. But someone like Jacques Vincent would certainly make the next leg sound more well-organized.

 

[Corley]

Here are his latest facebook updates:

https://www.facebook.com/yvan.bourgnon

the rough translates good enough to get the gist.

ARRIVAL D YVAN IN 3 HOURS IN PANAMA!

The new Yvan d a few miles from panama, Sunday February 9, 17 h: "I see the coast, j arrives in 3 hours a Colon in the Panama."
I finished the Atlantic in beauty with 6 days of navigation perfect without grain, without storm. I really had fun and wonderful sensations!
Except my capsize and baston kick l approach of the Colombia that lasted 18 hours.
I have been more efficient thanks to the new spi for forward sailing.
This finish is very symbolic for me as I finish an ocean, c is a nice accomplishment, and it n was not easy this ocean, j have not been spared, but I'm still alive!
However j arrives quite abyss a level of the skin of the arms and hands, then the nav lasted three times shorter than the Atlantic... J have l error do not put dry Combi at night, and I thought I could m air more with heat, well no, j will not have the... I left Martinique with a skin allergy, and here with the Sun and the sea water, that c is not badly aggravated...
J will repair the driver start finish l, the formalities for the channel, and in a few days, c is returned to the Galapagos"

YVAN comes of cut the line D arrival to PANAMA A 20 h 28 GMT after 6 days and 3 hours 30, navigation (instead of the 9-day period) it is located at the entrance of the dike of Colon, and it goes well!

 

[W17 designer]

Yvan arrives safely at Colon!

Perhaps this will be easier to follow ...
Sunday, Feb 09 2014, 17h ... as sent in by Yvan [free translation]
I see the coast and will arrive in 3 hours at Colon in Panama.
I finished the Atlantic in style, with days of perfect sailing without squalls or storms.
I really had fun with wonderful sensations!
Except for my capsize and the rough time at the approach to Colombia (which lasted 18 hours),
I have been more efficient with the new spinnaker.
This arrival is very symbolic for me, as I now complete this ocean crossing. This feels like a good achievement as this ocean was not easy. It was sometimes very tough but I'm still alive !
But the skin on my arms and hands is pretty damaged, even if the navigation of this stage lasted just 1/3rd as long as crossing the Atlantic. I made the mistake of not putting a dry combi on at night as I thought I would get more air in the warmth, but not a good decision. I left Martinique with a skin allergy and now, with the sun and sea water, it is quite aggravated.
I will need to repair the auto-pilot when I arrive and begin the formalities to go through the canal, and in a few days, plan to leave for the Galapagos "
====================================================
Sunday, Feb 09 2014, 20.30h
YVAN just arrived in the Panama at 8.30pm GMT
After 6 days and 3.1/2 hours sailing (instead of the 9 days anticipated), he is now located near the entrance to the canal at Colon, and all is well !

 

[Blackburn]

.

What is most unfortunate about this project at the moment, is that the people on board the 'media boat' (aka 'support boat') are not having much success in fulfilling their tasks (for their job description, see below). From the start of this 'circumnavigation in a sports cat with stops', the PR connected with it has been underwhelming, to put it kindly.

For the most part, this uninterrupted PR failure seems to be Bourgnon's own fault. So far it has consumed the Atlantic and the Caribbean, and now it threatens to continue into the Pacific.

I like the fact that there is a media boat/support boat standing by, and that it might presumably be able to help Yvan in a dire emergency; the odds against a dire emergency have not improved since the crew jumped ship and Yvan continued alone.

But Yvan has all along had trouble reconciling this media/support boat. His presentation of his current 'Adventure' emphasizes how 'robotic' and 'dependent' ocean sailing has become, and that his desire is to return to the more risk-filled style of sailing when decisions had to be made without recourse to weather information, routing, navigation electronics or GPS.

Yvan has said in at least one interview that the media/support boat is only there because the sponsors have insisted on it, that he would have preferred not to have it.

That appears to have been a big flaw in this project from the outset; Bourgnon should have designed it so that he did not appear antagonistic to the 'media boat', and the media boat should be doing a much better job of covering and disseminating his adventures.

...

On his Facebook page, there's an entry dated Jan 21. where Yvan is soliciting anyone interested in becoming main sponsor. The aspect of the project which is most dependent on more sponsorship is the support boat, he says, which is described as an X562 (X-Yacht)...

Here's Yvan's Facebook entry referred above, where the support boat is described:

... Si Yvan est assuré d'avoir déjà son budget pour terminer l'aventure, c'est moins sûr pour le bateau-média à partir de la Polynésie Française.
Ce bateau, un X 562, est là uniquement pour assurer la communication du projet à travers les vidéos, photos et newsletters transmises régulièrement aux différents médias, et relayées sur les différents sites internet afin de permettre au public de vivre l’aventure, jour après jour avec Yvan, presque comme si vous y étiez !
Nous rappelons que ce bateau n'a jamais porté une quelconque assistance en mer à Yvan et ne le fera pas : il joue le rôle de plateforme médias. A son bord : 2 skippers, un photographe, et une caméraman...

... If Yvan is already assured the budget he needs to complete the adventure, things are less certain regarding the media boat for the leg to French Polynesia. This boat, an X-562, is only along to ensure communication of the project with videos, photos and newsletters regularly transmitted to different media outlets, and relayed to different internet sites so the public can experience the adventure, day after day with Yvan, almost as if they were there themselves!
We recall that this boat has never offered any assistance whatever at sea to Yvan, and will not do so: It plays the role of media platform. On board: 2 skippers, a photographer, and a cameraman.

...

Apart from on the numerous (to the point of confusion*) smaller websites Yvan Bourgnon has in his own name, Yvan's arrival Sunday in Panama hasn't gotten any coverage yet; most websites aren't updated on Sundays, however, so maybe by Tuesday we'll see if there's any more coverage?

(* and here's another one!)

 

[W17 designer]

Good points Blackburn ... though one can understand why Yvan has some frustration over the media boat following him around, as he must feel it risks to reduce the effect of his achievement.
But I agree with you, at this point he may as well embrace its presence and use it to his advantage. For one thing, it might help him find new sponsors.
It was only when I saw so little global coverage of this quite extraordinary 'adventure', that I decided to put something up on my website. I even wrote to the NY Times last year to spell out what was about to happen and suggested they get themselves to Panama to pick up the story, but still neither heard nor seen anything.
But this was never Yvan's goal. He's doing this for himself and although I know we all enjoy to follow this story from the comfort of home, I feel sympathetic to his plan and ideals.
mike
www.smalltridesign.com

 

[Blackburn]

^^^

I had a look this morning, to see if there were any new photos and articles.

Did an image search since Sunday, and looked at article hits last 24 hrs. Found there were no new photos and that they'd sent out a couple of short and dull French press releases which only a few French sites ran.

If Bourgnon wants the 'media boat' to be invisible, he should be delighted with these results, and he ought to decide to discard not only with satnav, but sponsors as well.

 

[Corley]

A video of the Martinique to Colon leg of the journey has been uploaded by Yvan:

http://youtu.be/_0hYL1aqwoc

 

[Blackburn]

A video of the Martinique to Colon leg of the journey has been uploaded by Yvan:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmEHbOVNEsM&feature=share&list=UUUfCIXpcSF-olJ0BZx2ISUQ&index=1

Hi Corley. That video was a news report made in Martinique Feb. 3. just before he set off. Where he gets a kiss is when he starts the leg to Colon.

His Youtube feed also strings his video posts together, so if you keep watching after the smooching, then you see another video made in Martinique (Jan 24.?) where at 1min 10sec he makes some mention of the fact that his boat has been seized on account of differences with his ex-crewmate, that it is chained to the beach for the moment on account of legal proceedings brought by Vincent Beauvarlet.

Beauvarlet was born on one of the other French islands in the Caribbean and has a registered business there through which he could bring action against Bourgnon.

Bourgnon apparently had to pay a little over 24,000 euros in to a sequestered account, pending review of the case on April 1st. Once he'd made the payment, Bourgnon was allowed to sail to Colon.

It's all very French, like I mentioned earlier there's more if you google it.