We catch up with Marcus Hutchinson in Sable d'Olonne as his boat, LinkedOut, comes close to the finish line of Vendée Globe
Marcus Hutchinson, from Kinsale, is Team Manager for Thomas Ruyant’s Advens-LinkedOut and the pressure is on as they get close to the finish line at Sables d’Olonne. As we write this LinkedOut is only 100nm from the lead boat Apivia with Charlie Dalin. It is incredible that after 75 days at sea they are so close to each other as they ready the finish line.
The world of offshore racing is always active and the exposure of the Vendée Globe, on top of the COVID confinement, has made the timing of the international reach of this event exceptional this year as people log in to watch the incredible endurance of this race.
Young sailors are always looking for a “pathway” in their sailing career and that move from dinghy to keelboat can be daunting, so we asked Marcus if he had a message for our young Irish sailors that are watching the Vendée and wondering “Could I do that?” …
“Everything is possible, the limits are only really in your ambitions. The recipe for achieving those ambitions is pure and incessant motivation. And then drilling down a bit further huge amounts of hard work, a strong and growing network, and endless energy. The stumbling blocks are “too hard, I can’t, don’t know how,…" basically finding excuses not to do something.
Our very own Pamela Lee overcame that by removing excuses not to be able to sail two-handed round Ireland last year. There were plenty of reasons why it couldn’t happen but she slowly, with advice, coaching and encouragement, systematically removed the excuses not to do pursue her objectives for 2020.
Vendée Globe projects are the same but bigger, with greater complexities, longer term targets and consume infinitely more time and energy. Just getting to the start line is an achievement. Getting to the finish line is enormous. They are all winners and it’s not necessarily the rankings at the finish that illustrate this.” Marcus Hutchinson, Team Manager for Thomas Ruyant’s Advens-LinkedOut and Director at Vivi Resources Limited.
Join Murcus in interview with Vendee Live on Thursday 22 Jan 2021