Guirec Soudée finally succeeded in rowing the North Atlantic after 107 days, alone and without any assistance.
On Thursday, September 30, he crossed the Créach meridian line off the island of Ouessant at 10:49 a.m. His heroic performance ended last Friday on the Eric Tabarly pontoon in Brest at the end of the morning. The navigator was greeted by a crowd who dreamed of seeing him set foot on Breton soil, safe and sound. Guirec's feat will go down in history: paddling more than 5 kilometers with the sheer force of arms, deprived of meteorological information, means of communication and with increasingly dwindling energy rations. On the morning of October 000, the emotion of the Plougrescant navigator was as palpable as it was communicative, his crossing is almost a miracle for those who have followed his journey over the past three months. Guirec will have lived a human adventure that marks a life, and all the people following him too. On July 2, just 15 days after his departure, Guirec Soudée found himself caught in a tropical storm, his boat overturned, which put him in difficulty from the outset. The navigator says that he spent long hours trying to straighten his boat, but never succeeded. “We were at the very beginning of the storm, and then I turned around, I saw nothing coming. And there I saw the water coming in, my things scattering. I couldn't close the porthole, the water was rising, I ran out of air, and there I opened the main porthole so that all the water got into the boat. I was able to swim, I came out. The hull was upside down and it didn't move, it was too heavy. I said to myself olala, how am I going to do? ". But the Breton is tenacious and the boat has resumed its initial place. The months of July, August and September 2021 will have been tough for Guirec, the marine elements unleashed relentlessly for him and his boat, an oceanic one-design 8 meters long and 1,6m wide. Without forgetting the absence of means of communication and navigation for several periods, sometimes long, leaving the team, relatives and “fans” of the navigator in silence and anxiety. It is without counting on the great solidarity of several boats which have crossed his path that Guirec Soudée was able to make contact with his team and prepare as best as possible the end of his crossing. Until the last moment of this incredible adventure, the navigator displayed a determination and mental strength that only inspire respect. His past experiences had already made him a great navigator, this last journey only confirms this state of affairs. Well done, Guirec! _VX
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