BLADE RUNNER – NEOCEAN : The race before the race

BLADE RUNNER – NEOCEAN : The race before the race

• Caledonian Boat
• Type: Monohull (Noelex 30 by Bruce Farr)
• Crew: Selection is still underway. The crew will consist of 6 to 7 people, deliberately mixed-gender, including beginners. Confirmed members so far are Damien Meunier (skipper) and Antoine Brezillon.
• Number of participations in the Groupama Race (including 2025): 2nd time for both the boat and the skipper.

This year, a young and diverse team will set sail on Blade Runner – Neocean. In fact, the selection process is still ongoing. For Damien, the Groupama Race is also (and above all) “an excuse to spend time at sea, non-stop, with just the waves, the birds… a bit of reading, and this time, a team determined to challenge itself!”

It will be the skipper’s second time at the start of the race. In 2022, an issue forced him to withdraw and resume the route later. “We docked in Baie de la Moselle on a rainy morning,” he recalls. “The tents were gone, the onlookers looked lost, and the atmosphere had faded… We will return, and we will have our moment!”

A few months before the start, Damien explains, “It’s the races before the race… The race for sponsors, the race for equipment, the race to motivate the crew, not to mention the family left ashore, who may already feel abandoned by the sailor even before the ocean takes him… Then come the real races, like provisioning—we are already drafting menus and selecting supplies to keep the human machine running, to comfort the crew, to soothe the soul’s little wounds, to make life onboard easier… Committing to the GR24 means launching onto a slide where there’s no stopping the descent toward the start, as the hopes of your partners, supporters, family, and friends ride along with you.”

Why set sail again this year? For Damien, the answer is clear : resilience. “Beyond the context, we made commitments to our sponsors, our crew, and ourselves. Plus, we have a boat that’s ready to go… So why deprive ourselves?”

Above all, Damien longs to head offshore, to spend time at sea… and to arrive on time! “It won’t be Les Sables-d’Olonne, but I think Blade Runner – Neocean has a charm that might just surprise people!” he confides. Asked about his ambition, the skipper remains realistic about their ranking potential: “Our main competitor is ourselves and the clock. We have to finish the course within the allotted time and return without injuries. The others are just our playmates, our mentors, blending into the scenery we admire day and night… May the wind, luck, and our skillful maneuvers put them more often in our wake than on the horizon.”