Ten Storm Force

A yacht supported downwinder in open water Mediterranean is up there with heli skiing Whistler, or being towed into empty G-Land. But if the numbers are saying 50 knots and 6 metres, how much do you think you could stand?

- Corentin Lauret

It was 3 am when I heard Jeremy and Ludovic Teulade scrabbling about in the boat. It’s Sunday, the 12th of May, and the departure of the crossing is scheduled for 5 am. The early wake up was not difficult for the simple reason that I couldn’t sleep. I laid awake all night. We are docked in the old port of La Ciotat, a city on the Cote d’Azur with vaulting cliffs that keep sentinel over the Mediterranean Sea. At 390 meters above sea level, the Soubeyranes Cliffs are the highest sea cliffs in mainland Europe. The wind blows noisily and without respite, rocking the boat. In my little cabin which I shared with photographer Greg Rabejac, I contemplate the challenge ahead. Greg is an experienced man who has toured the world to capture in digital the most beautiful swells on the planet. This is a man who shoots Belharra from a bodyboard, it does not surprise me to hear him softly snoring.

0400. I decide, after gazing sleeplessly into the dark, to get up. After performing a little yoga, the brothers Jeremy and Ludo take their breakfast, dressed in long john wetsuits. Julien, our skipper, did not sleep either. He would tell us after the crossing that during the night, he was seriously considering whether to cancel departure. Fortunately for us, the wind abated slightly when we woke up.

0500. Equipped impact vests with self-inflating CO2 canisters, and radio headsets with integrated head torches, Jeremy and Ludo embrace each other. Observing this intense fraternal exchange, I can see that the brothers are prepared. They are concentrated. They are ‘on mission’.