Stéphane Letheule (4CAD): “The goal is to win the Vendée Globe”

On Thursday, October 23, three days before the start of the Transat Café L’Or, Benjamin Dutreux unveiled the broad outlines of his new Imoca project, with a new boat, a Koch design built at Multiplast in the molds of the future Paprec, and a title partner, the 4CAD group. Founded in 2004 and specialized in digitalization solutions for manufacturers, it employs 650 people across France, Switzerland, and Canada, and has 3,000 clients for a turnover of 115 million euros. Its president Stéphane Letheule explains to Sailorz the reasons for this commitment.

4CAD joined Benjamin Dutreux’s project a little before the Vendée Globe 2024, is this a first for the group in terms of sponsoring?
Yes, absolutely. Like all growing companies, we have always been solicited by football, handball, basketball clubs, or others, but we were not convinced of the relevance of a sponsorship, because we had never found the link that corresponded to our activities. With sailing, it’s different; we talk about a skipper, but also a boat, which clearly makes sense in relation to the trades of our clients, who design, manufacture, and sell products. It is therefore easier to draw parallels and create a link with them; understanding how a boat is designed, what technologies are used, the data that comes up, that speaks to them. So we found a real reason to go for this project, and we are also close to the Atlantic coast, in Nantes, but what really made the difference, as often happens, is the meeting with Benjamin.

When was that?
At the end of September 2024, in Les Sables d’Olonne, during a meeting of regional entrepreneurs, during which Benjamin spoke about the link between business and a project like his. I then discovered a guy who exuded something, both a business owner with his brother (Marcel-Junior) and a high-level sportsman, who was going to sail around the world less than two months later, even though he hadn’t even finalized his budget, so without knowing if, upon his return, he would be able to pay all the salaries. Since I had stayed overnight there, I saw Benjamin again the next morning at the hotel; he offered three or four of us to go see his boat, I asked him two or three questions, but more out of curiosity than anything else, and I left. All of that marinated over the weekend, and on Monday, I explained the context to my associates, we told ourselves we had to ask for the proposal, which we received on Tuesday, Benjamin and his brother came to Nantes the next day and we concluded the sponsorship! Less than five days earlier, I didn’t know Benjamin Dutreux, I didn’t even know he was going to speak at that meeting…

What budget did you sign for at the time?
I cannot say, but it wasn’t huge and it gave us very good visibility, because we were the last to arrive and we were finalizing his budget; we probably got a little more space than if we had signed earlier in his campaign.

What did you take away from this first experience on the Vendée Globe 2024?
We wanted to take advantage of this sponsorship to bring our clients, partners, and prospects to Les Sables d’Olonne for the reasons I detailed earlier; it really worked well, everyone felt privileged to be there, to interact with Benjamin and his team. And internally, the race was well followed by our 650 employees; we had set up Virtual Regatta for them, it created good momentum and allowed everyone to get on board.What happened next, once this Vendée Globe was completed (10th place)?
Very quickly, Benjamin’s objective was to sell the boat and do the 2025 season double-handed with Arnaud Boissières. The question of extending this experience, which had been very short for us, therefore arose, we quickly agreed to share the limelight on the season with La Mie Câline (who bought the VPLP design). At the same time, we started thinking about the future, firstly because we knew that at the end of the year, we would no longer have a boat, and secondly because Benjamin, as soon as he had set foot ashore in Les Sables d’Olonne, had said he would only return if he had the tools to contend for the podium and victory. We very quickly told ourselves that this would involve either building a new Imoca or buying a latest-generation boat. At 4CAD, the first option appealed to us a lot, firstly for performance reasons, and secondly because there is a whole story to tell around design and construction, data exploitation… This allowed us to involve our employees even more widely, because it is their everyday job, but also our clients.

It was then necessary to find an architect and a builder, how did that happen?
Benjamin and his team indeed had many consultations for architects and builders, and finally, the planets aligned when a slot became available last summer at Multiplast to build in the molds of Paprec [initially reserved by Sam Goodchild and Leyton, the Briton finally joined the Macif project, see our article]. This corresponded well to our project, firstly because it addressed financial and ecological issues, and furthermore because it was an opportunity to associate with Team Paprec, a recognized architect, and a recognized builder. So when this path opened up, we all rushed into it to definitively validate the project in mid-September.

For you, this is a significant financial effort, since Benjamin spoke during the presentation of a total of 13 million up to 2030, with 6 still to be found; how was the decision made internally and how much are you investing?
In reality, it’s more around 19 million, since Benjamin is counting on the resale of the boat after the Route du Rhum 2030. It’s a decision that was validated among shareholders, we told ourselves that we were capable of committing up to a certain amount to have the naming of the boat and to be a partner who wants to be participative, in terms of design and construction, but also because we believe we can bring technology and our consulting expertise in certain areas. As for the amount, I will not reveal it; let’s just say that it exceeds one million euros per year, which is both vague and meaningful! Furthermore, the budget is not finalized, and we are looking for either a second major partner to share the naming, or two or three fairly robust sponsors but with less sharing of the bill.Is the goal to win the Vendée Globe?
Yes, absolutely. The idea of building a boat, which represents an extremely significant budget, is to get a good position and we want to aim for first place. Afterward, it remains a sport, a technology, with external elements to take into account, but we are not doing this just for a little ride in the water. Benjamin, moreover, is not like that at all; he truly wants to play to win.