Winner of last year’s Translémanique en Solitaire (compensated time), Christian Monachon looks ahead to the 2023 edition. He will be back at the start of the most demanding regatta on Lake Geneva on August 24.
Can you introduce yourself and your boat? I’m 39 years old, an engineer and navigator on Ondine since the age of three. I’ve been sailing this boat in regattas since 1999, but I took it over two years ago. Ondine is a 6m50 built in 1932 for Mr. Lullier of Geneva, whose great-grandson still sails today, to plans by the architect François Camatte, who designed several boats and sailed at world level at the time. To celebrate the boat’s 90th birthday in 2022, I’ve entered the Bol d’Or Mirabaud and the SYZ Translémanique solo race. What’s your background as a sailor? I started sailing in regattas in 1999 and joined the CER around 2003. I gained a lot of experience, first in a Surprise, then in a Mumm 30 and also in a multihull (D35). I also sailed an M34 in the Tour de France à la voile. These different media have helped me to learn all the particularities of regatta racing, and I’ve held a number of different positions. I also took part several times in the 5 jours du Léman, which for me is the most formative experience for Translem’: I was able to acquire a good knowledge of the lake. How many Translems’ have you done? I’ve only got two Translems’ under my belt, but I intend to remedy that and do it over the next twenty years! Can you tell us about your experience at the 2023 event? In this edition, my goal was to do the tour. The weather wasn’t ideal for my boat: it’s heavily canvased and it’s an old design that can sink and doesn’t plane, so you have to be careful. My start was slower than the fleet’s as I didn’t want to take too many risks. Downwind starts are a bit stressful for me. I tried to sail like a good sailor, as best I could, and it went pretty well. I was rather among the last boats in the race at Evian, but then I was able to exploit the boat’s full potential and manage the small transitions. I’ve caught up with a good number of Surprises, slightly larger than Ondine but with a similar performance. I sailed with them and then managed to hit the vauderon, a south-easterly night breeze blowing over the Haut-Lac, which enabled me to get back onto the yachts that had stayed on the Swiss coast. Later, two other winds enabled me to continue my progress to the first Surprises: the Morget and then the Joran. It was very wet at the end, raining non-stop from 10 p.m. and the wind conditions were quite changeable, so we had to deal with that. I finished the regatta at around 3.45am, with no idea of the result, but I was pretty proud because I saw several nice boats around me and I thought I had put up a good fight given the circumstances. Were you expecting this victory? No, not at all. My boat has great potential, but it’s more suited to light airs, so it was surprising for me given the sustained conditions we encountered. I’m happy to have come through it, I was able to exploit the boat’s potential, and that’s what counts. What does this regatta mean to you? For the sailor from Lake Geneva, the Translem’ is his greatest challenge. The concept is simple: you have to cross the entire lake alone, and I really like that. We’re also extremely well received at La Nautique, where the atmosphere among competitors is unique, and where sailors naturally help each other out because they’re sailing alone. Everyone says hello to each other, it’s really magical. Any advice for other competitors? For me, you have to have fun first and then the results come. I think it’s important to prepare the boat well too.