By Alan Roura, nine days before Christmas. The Swiss is in 16th place in the field of 22 skippers remaining in the race, expecting a strong storm and writing a poetic love letter from the Southern Ocean, which is also a declaration of love to his beloved girlfriend at home and the Vendée Globe:
It's the 13th of December. A date like any other for you. But not for me. I'm going to let my heart speak today and perhaps talk a little less about the swell and the storm that are raging around us right now.
On the same date three years ago, I had just arrived in Pointe-à-Pitre after crossing the finish line of the 2013 Mini-Transat. For me, a love affair began there. I know that many people read my words from on board and follow my course with great interest. On the water, we are alone, far away from the world, and have time to ask the right questions. About our desires, about our lives and the way we run the boat. And also about who we want to share all this with.
I wasn't always good to her, not the most attentive and not the most respectful either. I didn't know how to behave like a man in many situations. But since putting her down - like every day for three years now - she's been on my mind. I love it like the first day I met her. She was there in good and bad moments, knew how to support me in my projects, but also when I had setbacks. The fact that I can be here in the south today, ready to face a pretty storm, is mainly thanks to the woman who managed to manage such a project. And to manage me. Because she knows how to make a difference between our work and our relationship. There isn't a day when I don't think about her. That motivates me to sail faster, to navigate as cleanly as possible and to get back to her faster. I want us to grow together, for every day together to be a new adventure.
There is a saying that goes like this: "Behind every great man is a woman." I am not a great man. I'm learning to be one. One thing is certain: without all this, I wouldn't be the man I am today. I wanted to tell you about this person, because a solo sailor thinks a lot, sometimes gets into difficult situations and often comes to the point of asking questions about the progress of life. I don't know whether sailing will continue for me. That won't depend on me alone. But what is certain and well-considered is this: I can't imagine a day in my life without it, I want to have it all together. And I want the whole world to know that. I'm sad that I can't be close to her today, but my place is here.
She already knew me from the water with a beard when the first dream was just becoming a reality for me. And here I am at my greatest challenge! Taking part in a Vendée Globe is not just about sailing an ocean race. It gets harder morally every day: you are more tired, far away from the people you love, in the cold. Your body starts to realise that you are abusing it more every day. But I know I've changed here. When I go back, I won't be the same.
I will be a man, a real one. And I have found my answers here that I might never have discovered on land. I know my words don't sound like a normal message from aboard. But I just had to write what was on my heart. I had to tell the world that I love this girl and will not allow anything to keep us apart. And if I make a good change here, I'll still be myself. Today I wanted to talk to you about love. Recognising a dream is absolutely magical. But it's even better when you can share it with someone. By writing all this, you might understand my story better. And also that the Vendée is not just a race. It's a school of life that makes us grow very quickly.
P.S.: The name of the woman that the youngest current Vendée skipper Alan Roura, aged 23, loves so much is Aurélia. Cineastes may think of the British romantic Christmas film "Love Actually". Aurelia Mouraud is Alan's lady of the heart, project manager and press officer.
