Tom Laperche: “On the Transat Café L’Or, we are starting from scratch”

At 28, Tom Laperche is preparing to compete in his third consecutive Transat Café L’Or on the Ultim SVR-Lazartigue, with a new co-skipper, Franck Cammas, but still with ambitions for victory. Interviewed in Le Havre on Thursday, the winner of the 2022 Solitaire du Figaro spoke with Sailorz.

In an interview you gave us in March 2021, you told us you were aiming for the Route du Rhum 2022 in Multi50 (now Ocean Fifty) and the Vendée Globe in the medium term. Four and a half years later, you are about to compete in your third consecutive Transat Café L’Or on SVR-Lazartigue, what does that inspire in you?
In that answer at the time, there was already a strong desire to do multihull racing, it just so happens that it didn’t happen in Multi50, but in Ultim, and it’s clear that I didn’t think at the time that it would go so fast! But I remember it well, because it was the beginning of my third year of Figaro and it was shortly after that the project with François and SVR Lazartigue materialized.

Do you remember your reaction when you received his call?
Yes, it was at a time when I was very busy, a bit like now, a few days before the start of the Transat en Figaro [Concarneau-Saint-Barthélémy, in which he would take 3rd place with Loïs Berrehar, Editor’s note]. The proposal was twofold: first to accompany François for the boat’s launch and the upcoming Transat Jacques Vabre. It was a pretty exceptional opportunity, and I responded with an obvious yes, full of dreams and projections for the months to come. The second part was to be in a position in the medium term to take over the boat solo, and on that point, I had a little more difficulty projecting myself; I needed more time to answer. I admit I was surprised, I think François was convinced before me that I was capable of it. It was only at the end of the year, once the Transat Jacques Vabre was finished, that I was ready to commit, because I better measured the scale of the challenge of sailing in Ultim and I had a rough idea of what the solo dimension could be, but it’s true that at the beginning, the step seemed huge.

And what do you remember about that first Jacques Vabre in 2021?
Wonderful memories! Quite exhilarating moments of pure sailing, of gliding and piloting pleasure, of discovering the potential of this boat, of passing archipelagos lost in the middle of the Atlantic, sending a sail, maneuvering… And at the finish, a second place, not far from Gitana, which was a great satisfaction.

Two years later, same boat, same co-skipper and same result, this time behind Banque Populaire XI, and the same satisfaction?
In 2023, there is a tiny bit of frustration in finishing second in the sense that we were leading at Ascension Island. But we didn’t have the right settings then to compete in downwind speed with Banque Populaire as much as we had hoped. Now, there was still a lot of positive in noting that we managed to stay at the highest level in Ultim after several races, without too much damage. It’s proof that we had worked well, even if a little something was missing that we hope to have filled this year.

Do you think that’s the case?
Yes, I think that in our way of setting up the boat, we have progressed a lot in the conditions that were less favorable to us. But so have the others, especially Banque Populaire, with new foils and new rudders which allowed them to make up their slight handicap on the upwind and take-off parts. So I think it has tightened up a bit in both directions. This year, we are happy to have won the Fastnet and the 24h Ultim, but now, we are starting from scratch; I feel that the four boats have arguments to win. And we can’t really know before the race how the five days of full-speed trade winds will go, because we haven’t been confronted in those conditions.

You are racing this year with Franck Cammas, was that your choice?
Yes, it’s really my choice, I’m the one who called him. For the record, the only person I consulted for an opinion was Stève Ravussin, who won the Transat twice with Franck and whom I know very well; he naturally reinforced my choice. For me, the objective was both to find a sailor who sails well offshore in a multihull to aim for victory on the Transat Café L’Or, but also someone who would help us continue to develop and upgrade this trimaran. Franck’s expertise in this area is truly beneficial; he has sailed on many platforms, has an attraction for technical development and innovation, and he was also coming out of the America’s Cup, where he was able to develop very fine analyses of what happens in the water with foils, flaps… He brought a bit of method, which helps us a lot; this is the renewal I wanted to bring to the team to try and take a small step forward.

You were born the year he won his first Solitaire, at almost the same age as you (24, 25 for Tom Laperche), what image did you have of him when you were a child?
It’s funny because I actually have images of the Transat Jacques Vabre. I really started following sailing races around the 2010s, at the time when he was winning this Transat with his magnificent Groupama boats. Moreover, like me, he had the confidence of a team and a major sponsor at his age which allowed him to find himself at the helm of a multihull in the premier class straight out of the Figaro; there are quite a few parallels in our respective careers. I also had the image of a sailor who moved across many platforms and succeeded very often in winning, from the Tour de France à la Voile, in races or records, in multihulls and monohulls; he left his mark on many disciplines. Finally, I had the image of a hard worker and a super technical developer. He won all these races thanks to his sailing talent, but also by knowing how to develop his boats very well, because he knew them perfectly, which allowed him to know how and when to step on the accelerator without damaging them. That made me dream!

Today, do you enjoy this technical development aspect as much?
Yes, due to my engineering background, I have always loved technique, physics, the understanding of materials and forces; I love discussing with the design office and engineers. I like to look for the fine balance that is not easy to find between reliability, lightness, and performance. At the beginning, I arrived with quite limited expertise, but having sailed for several years with François allows me today to have my own vision of what it means to sail an Ultim offshore and to be capable of dictating choices.

With François Gabart stepping back, are you taking on more responsibility within the team yourself?
That is indeed the biggest difference over the past year: since François is no longer here on a daily basis, it is more up to me to manage the human aspect and the decisions, even if I am well surrounded by Antoine Gautier [who directs the SVR Lazartigue project at MerConcept, Editor’s note] and the leaders of each sub-team. The gradual handover with François allowed me to find my feet, to be listened to more and more and to be higher and higher in the decision hierarchy. He has always supported all the choices I have made, which allowed me to gain self-confidence, and today, I think the team trusts me.

To return to my first question, now that you are well established in Ultim, do you see yourself staying in this class for a long time?
What is certain is that I really want to remain committed to this premier class for the next five to ten years. Sailing these Ultims is marvelous, and the development we can do is truly stimulating; today, it is difficult to say what these boats will be like in five or ten years and if they will still be the fastest offshore. I want to be 200% part of this story.