A"er60daysatsea,PieterHeeremaaboardNoWayBackhas justpassedthehalfwaymarkoftheVendéeGlobe.Astrategicpointforthe Dutch navigator who is parHcipaHng for the first Hme in thissolo, non-stop and unassisted sailing race around the world. Asmany of his compeHtors, Pieter Heerema has experienced manytechnical issues over the past two months aboard his latestgeneraHon Imoca includinga recurringautopilotproblem.Also,hehas had to face difficult and complicated weather condiHons.Currently17th in theprovisionalgeneral rankingbutmoHvatedbytheDutchenthusiasmthathischallengearises,PieterconHnueshisracewiththesameobjecHvehehadondeparture:tofullbringthisroundtheworldsailingrace.Pieter, what is your state of mind halfway through the VendéeGlobe? "I'm ready for the second half of the race, both physically andmentally. From a compe99on point of view, during the 60 days ofracing, I have rarely been in contact with my compe9tors and myvarioustechnicalconcernshaveforcedmetomakemajordetoursandslowdowns.TodayIamsailingat60%ofNoWayBack’spoten9albutIs9ll do not dare to push her to hermaximum. The autopilot is nowworkingagainbuttheproblemshaves9llnotbeenfullyresolved.Forme,theVendéeGlobehasbecomeajourneyaroundtheworldonanuncomfortable and difficult racing boat. I do not forgetmy goal toreturntoLesSablesd'Olonne.Iwillcalmlycon9nuethischallenge,tryto circumvent complicated and muscular weather condi9ons, avoidtakingunnecessaryrisks,nomaPerifitmeanstomakedetoursortoslowdownagain."Over these 60 days of racing, could you tell what have been themostdifficultandhappiestHmes?

"Duringthefirsttwoweeks,IsufferedfromaseverebackinjurythatputmeinalotofpainandalreadyatthatearlyphaseI lostcontactwith the fleet. Then technical issues followed each other up quickly(rudder,hydrofoil,communica9onsystem,autopilot...).BytakingpartintheVendéeGlobeIknewthatIwouldhavemanyproblemstosolve.Iknewtheadagebutforme"aproblemaday"isoutoffashionandshould no longer exist. It kind of accepts bad prepara9on andbad quality of work by contractors and installers of equipment.Fortunately, therearealsocalmmomentsaboardNoWayBackandtheDutchenthusiasmandmessagesofsupportreallytouchme.Igetmanyencouragementmessages.InHolland,peoplehavebecomeverymuchinterestedintheVendéeGlobe.Ihopethatmypar9cipa9onwilleventually lead to more solo sailing projects and to more futurepar9cipantsfromtheNetherlandsinthisrace.I'mnotsureI'llbebackin 4 years as a compe9tor but maybe as a support or coach for ayoungDutchskipper."

IsthisenthusiasmthatmoHvatedyoutoconHnuetheadventure?

"Yes,mycountry’senthusiasmwasdecisivetocon9nueintheVendéeGlobe.A\erCapeLeeuwin,IhesitatedandwantedtostopbutthenIradicallyswungintoanewperspec9ve.Theoneoffinishingtherace.NomaPerhowmanydaysitwilltake.TodayIdonotcareanymore,Iaminthebackofthefleet and baPle with the oldest Imoca of the

fleet.butihaveaseverelycrippledboat.It'sashamebecauseNoWayBackisanexcellentboat, itwassuperblybuiltatPersicoinItaly,thenew foils are fantas9c andmy sail set is ideal for my prac9ce. Myworryisreallytheelectronicsonboard."DidyoufollowyourcompeHtors’races?

"Not all of them. I looked at thosewhowere not too far fromme.Sometracksaresurprising.Some9mesI'msurprisedtoseethatsomecompe9torsdeliberatelychoosetogothroughstronglowswithalltheriskofbreakingor stopping that includes.Whenyouarea rookie intheVendéeGlobe, inmypointofview,thefirstobjec9ve istofinish.Onasecondorthirdpar9cipa9on,youcancomeforaresultandforspeed.Anyway,that'swhatItrytodo." HowwenttheendofyearcelebraHonsaboardNoWayBack? "Ihavenothadmuch9meforitsincethebeginningoftheadventure.Fornow,Ihavenotwatchedasinglemovie,listenedtomusicorreada book. Life on board is very intense and dedicated to the smoothrunningoftheboat.Fortheholidayseason,Ihadplanned"improved"mealswith special foods.Unfortunately,myNewYear'smeal leakedso Ihad to throw itaway.For theChristmasmeal, it isnecessary tohave calmweather toprepare it so it s9llwaits in its containers fortheright9metobeeaten.Fortunately,mydaughterhadofferedmeDanishherringwhichIenjoyedverymuch.Itwaswonderful.Ihadmywife and family on the phone and wished them a great 9me. Andformyemployees I hadprepareda special ChristmasandNewYearvideo."

Pieter Heerema with No Way Back halfway through the Vendée Globe

PieterHeeremaandthewholeNoWayBackSailingTeamthankyouforyourinterestinthisprojectandwishyouawonderfulhappynewyearandfavourablewindsinallyourprojects. TofollowtheevoluAonoftheDutchskipperandhisImoca60NoWayBack,gotothecartographyavailableontheNoWayBackwebsiteandontheFacebookpage:WWW.NOWAYBACKSAILING.COM FACEBOOK:NOWAYBACKSAILING

Photography: Jacques Vapillon