THIERRY DUBOIS
17th April 2003

Thierry Dubois is a hard man to figure out. There is no doubt that he is a passionate person; passionate about sailing, passionate about human rights and very passionate about his family. Often his dark moods stifle a terrific sense of humor that surfaces at the most unpredictable times like for instance his new mohawk hairdo specially for a Cape Horn rounding. By the time he reached Salvador the hair had grown back, but he kept a small Tin-Tin type quiff and large sideburns prompting Brad Van Liew to joke, "I see Elvis has finally made an appearance back on earth."

Over the last eight months Dubois has become a central figure in this Around Alone race. His intensity at first put people off until we figured out that he was being hard on himself and not on us. Each skippers is greeted with a chilled bottle of Champagne Mumm when they arrive in port, and each skipper dutifully sprays the assembled crowds. But Thierry is an exception. "I do not celebrate coming in second," he said, each time refusing the champagne. If coerced into opening the bottle he usually pours a little on the deck of his boat and ignores the rest. It was becoming an ongoing joke to see who would hand Dubois the champagne when he arrived because without fail Thierry would glare at the unsuspecting person and refuse to open the bottle. When he arrived in Brazil to take first place in Class 1, despite having been beating across the line by Bernard Stamm, the champagne was passed around like a hot croissant, no one wanting to hand it over. Even Dubois's wife Muriel shook her head when presented with the bottle. Thierry had already made it clear that he was not happy being beaten by Stamm, so it was to everyone's surprised when he grabbed the bottle, and with a huge smile, doused the crowds.

In Salvador Dubois finally let up on himself. He seemed resigned to having Stamm beat him and content to settle for second place. This is Thierry's last long solo offshore race. He burst onto the scene in 1990 winning the incredibly tough mini-transat race, and from there built a career that has spanned a decade. In his first solo non-stop circumnavigation he had to be rescued in the Southern Ocean after his boat sank. That experience should have put him off sailing for life, but instead it renewed his desire to win and he returned four years later for a second go-around only to be forced to stop due to autopilot problems. He pulled into Australia to fix the pilots and then continued, finally completing his circumnavigation but as an unofficial entry. The Around Alone was to be his swan song, but a wily Swiss sailor seems intent on throwing a wet blanket on those plans. So Dubois is sailing hard and enjoying himself more these days. In Salvador he was the life of every party and could be seen with one or the other of his daughters hanging onto the handlebars of his scooter or being pushed in a dock trolley. His Elvis sideburns grew more pronounced, and his laugh could be heard booming in the media center.

On Sunday Dubois took off on his immaculately prepared boat for his last solo passage to Newport. As soon as the start gun fired he was there mixing it up with Bernard Stamm, each skipper intent on outdoing the other. By nightfall he was still near the front of the pack, but strangely as the fleet sailed north, Thierry took off on his own course to the east. On a distance-to-go basis he fell into last place and pundits wondered if he had finally lost it. Today, still trailing Bobst Group Armor lux by 270 miles Thierry finally sent an email that summed up life on board the good ship Solidaires.

"When the wind and boatspeed fall, even disappear,
When your competitors are still moving, even escaping,
When the meteorological future is not bright, not to say zero,
When I get the impression that I have been misled, not to say stuck
It is not easy to stay calm and optimistic!

So I am trying to keep a cool head in this heat…
Anyway, what else is there to do but to deliberate and be patient

I digest these fruitless days waiting for better ones,
When I will perhaps reap the rewards of my easterly option

There is still hope to turn things around
So, even if I am retiring soon, don’t bury me yet!"

Dubois has come to terms with himself. He knows he is one of the best solo sailors in the world and he has left his mark as a human rights crusader in many remote corners of the planet. When the other Around Alone skippers are drinking cold drinks at the nearest watering hole, Thierry can be found speaking to a group of school children at some inner-city school. He has a magnetic personality that children respond to and his desire to see children spared from suffering is very evident. He is also a practical man and knows that his voice alone will not end human suffering. "I have to do my part, just as everyone else should do their part," he has said many times, that glint of intensity returning to his eyes. "It's only right that we protect all the children." Perhaps Bruce Schwab summed it up best when he related a story about an encounter in Salvador. "I ran into some French people," he said, "I was trying to explain to them what I was doing there. My French is limited and they did not seem to get it until I mentioned the name Thierry Dubois. They knew immediately who he was and by extension what I was doing. The man is a household name in France. We just don't realize how famous he is because he hangs out with us."

--- Brian Hancock great.circle@verizon.net

Source: Around Alone Official Site