Julien Villion à la sieste (© Team Teamwork.net)
Édition 2023 15 November 2023 - 17h30

How do the sailors manage their sleep?

Sleep is a key element in the success of the sailors. Whether using a natural rhythm or a fixed watch system, the pairs have their own ideas.

“I have just woken up and feel good,” said Baptiste Hulin (AMIPI - Tombelaine Coquillages). At the start of the race, nights were very short or did not exist at all. When sailing double-handed, each duo finds a way to manage watches. They take it in turns at the helm and resting. They look after each other and the boat. In a race like this, there is no way to get a night’s sleep. In general, the skippers grab naps lasting 1/4h and up to three hours. 

"We found our rhythm after the front at the start of the race,” explained Violette Dorange (DeVenir). "We managed to settle into a good rhythm. We do watches lasting two hours and feel much more rested than at the start of the race." In the low-pressure systems, the watches are in general much shorter, as Pierre Quiroga (Viabilis Océans) explains, "We get about an hour, which isn’t much. We got about an hour each. Since the ridge of high pressure, it’s been easier.” 

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© Team Paprec Arkea Yann Eliès en pleine nuit !

Aboard Nestenn Entrepreneurs pour la planète, they have managed to sleep a bit more. "In terms of sleeping we worked on the same lines as in all this year’s races," said Jules Bonnier "Out at sea it’s three hours, but sometimes we are there for longer, but that helps us.”

Most of the sailors adapt to what they feel. “We sleep well, but don’t set the alarm," explained Alexandre Le Gallais (Trimcontrol). "We respect a sleep cycle, which is usually from 90 minutes to two hours.”

The only ones who dare to be different are Yoann Richomme and Yann Eliès. Aboard Paprec Arkéa, they sleep for five or six hours. "Our watch system is different from the others. We sleep for as long as we want. The person on watch wakes the other when he feels like he is no longer in the best of shape. That means we slide into natural patterns and we can see a positive effect.”

Not the same pattern ashore

Our nights are divided up into sleep cycles. There are three phases: 

  • Light sleep, as in a nap
  • Deep sleep, which allows us to regenerate our cells and build up our energy, sort out our memory and clear out the brain
  • Paradoxical sleep: the dream sequence.

"The quality of sleep at sea is very different from ashore, when we sleep between 6 and 9 hours," explained Dr. François Duforez. "They have understood the usefulness of a nap."

We have to remember this is a double-handed race. "We base it around how the body works,” said Denis Van Weynbergh (D’IETEREN GROUP). "It works well because Gilles doesn’t have the same cycles as me, so we complement each other."

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© Team Viabilis Petite sieste à bord de Viabilis Océan

Some sailors have their own ideas. In this race, Pierre Quiroga (Viabilis Océans) took earphones aboard that shut off the noise to help him sleep. “You have to put to one side all the noises, which can be very scary. My earphones allow me to shut myself off to grab a good rest.”

Dr. François Duforez thought about Jean-Pierre Dick, "He always had the same pillow and could snuggle up to get to sleep quickly. When the body feels safe, the brain can recover more quickly. It was like a cuddly toy. He did the Barcelona World Race twice, the Vendée Globe twice and all the transatlantic races, it must have been the pillow that has sailed the most miles.”

Another technique is down to eating. Mummy’s home made jam or your favourite chocolate. That too is like the cuddly toy and enables the sailor to drift off into the land of nod and have some nice dreams.

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