Christian DULOT : “I HAVE NEVER WON BE-FORE ”.

The 30th Catagolfe edition ended last week with a Diam 24 od victory, Christian DULOT (Royal Nautisme). The enlightened amateur was the first to be surprised by this result which he attributes to the professionalism of Fred Moreau, who has already won last year. Christian is also the president of the Diam 24 od class and the one who organises the 2019 calender and announces the creation of the Tour Voile Series.

Did you expect this result ?

Our objective was to make a good race. I thought that coming 5th or 6th would be great. I had onboard Fred Moreau a good sailor who knows well the Golfe racing site. He did several Olympic preparations and won the Tour Voile with Spindrift. We did some good sailing.sailing with Fred put me really under pressure. For Timothée and me it was not easy to stay focused psychologically. I was always one leg late on Fred to see things. I had never won and the Catagolfesymbolises many things, particulaly on this one year sailing anniversary.

What do you like in races like The Catagolfe ?

The difficulty for amateurs like myself, are the stadiums which are physically very demanding races. It can be difficult for people who are not used to string together continuously the maneuvers. The raid format as in the Catagolfe is more friendly, there is less pressure in general.

Do you privilege the raids ?

My sailing season is essentially made of raids like Le Raid Émeraude, Le Raid de Quiberon but I am happy to be on the Spi Ouest France and sail with professionals. This is also why I chose the Diam 24 od. The level is high and even if I know I could take a blow, its still very nice to sail with these people. Most of the professionals are not stingy on advices and tips, it’s always interesting.

How do you evaluate the Class evolution ?

The Class in in full development. The professionals on le Tour Voile were very influential at the beginning but today the development integrates owners like me. The boat has been conceived for a wide range of public, accessible to most. It has become the Tour Voile boat and the message was « come and navigate with great names ». At that time, there was such a gap in the level for the individual amateur sailors that it was impossible to compete against those who cumulated 160 hours sailing days per year. Today I can feel that the gap is being reduced. During the first Spi Ouest France in which I took part, I finished outside the time limit. Today we are able to tinkle the professionals and play with them. Of course we are not as competitive as them but we are not far behind.

Will you modify the calenday ?

As the President of the Class and in agreement with ADHinotec, we are puting in place for 2019 a calendar more responsive to the variety of public. The professionals will participate in races based on the Tour voile model with stadiums, these raids and races will be referenced «Tour Voile Series ». This will give to professionals a specific circuit on which they can train but also communicate with their partners.

And for the amateurs ?

The amateurs, known as the « white sails » don’t have the same expectations. There are more and more sailors every year coming from the monohulls sailing and they love the friendliness and the sensations given by the multihulls on long raids. In Quiberon bay for example, there will be 6 races running from April to October and whole week-ends dedicated to the trainings. Here again, these events will be referenced Diam Racing or Diam Regatta.

During these events, the shipyard will make available the « Easy Regatta » offer which reduces all the logistical constraints. The team having chosen this formulae has just to set foot on board and sail ! The shipyard will take care of everything else ! This allows the steadiness of technical team on the racing spots, for a good onedesign model is about number and quality !

You are keen about which event ?

The one I would love to do is Tahiti or Oman but for owners like me it’s not simple to collect such important budgets. These are my dream events but there are also beautiful ones in France.