Language of Shakespeare:

It should be recognised that our Anglo-Saxon friends still conserve a large part of their grasp of our technological innovations, (writes French sailing expert Pierre Francois Bonneau). And this domain of Anglicism demonstrates that we are at the peak of modernism. This is all to the great puzzlement of the average fellow, who admits that he gets lost in this barbarian vocabulary: “I was passing the ‘short sheet’ of the ‘solent’ before rolling in the 'gennaker', when the 'padeye’ gave up the ghost…” Now you understand why that may be tricky for the French. At the end of the day though, are today's 'lashings' worth more than our 'bumpkins' of times gone by.

 

 

 

 

Meteorological precision:

“Thirty knots of wind on the file at 215, it’s going to blow. The latest gribs confirm this…” Meteorology is an exact science (or almost). Suffice to say that the sailors spend a fair amount of time consulting the messages which their onboard computers send them. Of course you should know that the wind on the file is an average theoretical wind defined by the forecasters, which doesn’t take into account the possible local variations and gusts generated under the clouds. As for the grib files, these are the information files supplied to the sailors, who will in turn interpret them… In other terms, our sailors are likely to have a good old blow on their rear, stemming from the SSW. Information files are clearly formal.

Agricultural metaphor: (a lesson in French or not!!KJ)

With a deep-seated nostalgia for shore, some of our sailors adore using common sense sentences: “C’est à la fin de la foire qu’on compte les bouses…" (literally_ it’s only afterwards that you can count the cowpats!?) Other French terms: “il sera temps de faire les comptes plus tard” (it’ll be time to do the accounts/add it all up later), “tant que la ligne d’arrivée n’est pas passée, il peut y avoir des retournements de situation” (roughly translated as 'it's not over till the fat lady sings!). Ne chantons pas victoire trop tôt (or don't crow about your victory too soon). There are other more delicate offerings too: “C’est à la fin du bal qu’on paye les musiciens…” (literally…it’s at the end of the ball that you pay the musicians). But, in the end, "c’est la même prudence de maquignon qui vaut” (literally _ it's the prudence of a trickster which counts).

Misery hiding:

“This is where I wanted to be anyway…”  means that you haven’t read the weather very well over the past few hours and that, on the other hand, the deficit you have lost will quickly be made up thanks to an anticipated option over the next three days. “I have a few technical issues, but nothing serious”, proof that you are up to your feet in water and half the rig is about to come loose, especially given that the competitors are essentially 'in it to win it'. The shore crews will of course be lying in wait to hear about the slightest weakness in their adversaries' lot and won't delay in passing on the news to their skipper, ....psychological warfare also being a big part of the game.

 

 

 

 

The day that our solo sailors end up speaking like the man on the street, ocean racing will have lost a large part of its mystery and its flavour, so let's hope they don’t change a thing!

Translation KJ