You said "organised by a sailor, a race for sailors". So what did the sailors think?

They all gave the same answer: that they were astonished by many things, the route, the organisation, the good humour, the welcome in Port-Camargue and here in the Oriental region, in Saïdia. Most of them told us they wanted to come back, and not in four years, but right away! In sporting terms, it was a real ocean race. There were battles at every level. There were rubber bands in both directions. Unfortunately, three boats didn't make it in time. That's part of the sport. Some boats fell way behind from the start and didn't manage to hook onto the right cars. Up front, on the other hand, it was a very interesting race, there were a lot of options, and the podiums were hotly contested, and were decided in the final hours. Some of the favourites were there. There were more favourites than there were places on the podium. There are bound to be disappointments, that's sport. I'm thinking of Ambrogio (Beccaria, with Alberto Riva on "Alla Grande Pirelli"), Thibault Vauchel-Camus and Yann Eliès (Ocean Fifty Solidaires en Peloton), who could have done better. The others didn't steal the podium. There were some satisfactions, but no surprises. There were some revelations, like the guys from Tyrolit (Matteo Sericano and Luca Rosetti, second in Class40). Talented and nice, they don't get carried away, they know how to make boats work, and we're going to see them again. Of course, Achille's victory (Nebout, winner of the Class40) was heart-warming.

Together with the race director, you had to modify the routes. Just before the start, then during the race. Were the choices difficult?

We made the right decisions from the outset, shortening the Class40 course to ensure that the boats arrived on time, and we realised that it wasn't easy in the Mediterranean. So we had to make it longer by adding a course marker! We didn't do that in the Ocean Fifty. We thought we'd be able to make a bit more of the mild nights when we got there on Wednesday. We thought we'd get a bit more out of the mild nights when we got there on Wednesday, but that didn't turn out to be the case - it was more like all-nighters!

How would you rate the organisation in general?

All in all, we've succeeded, with a whole small team that's built up around this project. It's a first, so there are a lot of holes in the system. We've put a lot into this organisation, both in Port-Camargue and in Saïdia. We've tried a lot of things, some of which have worked, others not. We'll talk about what didn't work later. Overall, we've had a marvellous line-up, both in terms of numbers and quality, which wasn't easy at the start. The sailors who put their trust in me. We had a huge crowd in Port Camargue, which we hadn't dared to hope for. It was a good day at the start, not very windy, but that was one of the ingredients we needed to bring so many people together, on the quays and at sea. It was a great way to bring together sailing enthusiasts, people who enjoy the sea and everything in between, from lateen sails to jousting, kitesurfing and fishing. That was one of our objectives, to bring together all these aspects of the sea. It worked really well. Everyone was amazed at the quality of the boats present at the MedMax, and at the photo it takes when they're all together in a port. Nobody had seen this photo before and in just a few hours, in just a few days, it all came together.

Were there any highlights for you, any emotional moments?

Sunday was the first time I'd started a race without taking part. I'm more used to being on the water. Then in Saïdia, here, the same photo of a harbour full of beautiful boats. I think that photo will still be there in thirty years' time, on the promotional leaflets for Saïdia and the marina.

Will this success add to the future of the MedMax, and indeed other ocean races?

I think we've blown everyone away, no-one was expecting this, no-one. We may have been talking about it for a long time, we've been talking about it for ten years with the Region and other partners, but nobody imagined that it would have such an impact. All the lights were on. Today we've done it, we've got this image, we're going to use it to develop the next edition of the MedMax, and other races, starting in Occitanie, or Saïdia, we're going to think about it. Overall, the 'kisscool' effect is that we have images to promote. From now on, it's going to be very different from before, when we were trying to explain that we could do that. There are lots of projects, but we had to give it a go. We've brought about some interesting meetings between the Occitanie and Oriental regions. These are very positive things. Now we need to get back to work. And quickly.