"Wait, I'm partially sighted, not blind!". Just two tenths to the left, and nothing to the right, but Joël Paris has mastered winking. Now 60, this congenital visual impairment has not stopped him from living life to the full. His professional life is in finance, and above all on the water, since he first touched a sailing boat at the age of seven in Granville. "Optimist, 420, Caravelle, traditional, you name it!recalls the man who claims to have always sailed... differently. "I see, I'm independent, nothing could stop me from sailing. And especially not ocean racing. That's where anyone, disabled or not, can mix with others, amateurs and professionals alike. It's where different sailors have their place.. This energetic native of Versailles wants to leave a little space in his dreams for others, through his association, "Rêve à perte de vue" (Dreams as far as the eye can see). "I'm certainly not going to win any races, but it's a way of sharing. Last year, he almost reached his goal: to take part in the Transat Jacques-Vabre, on Cécile Poujol's former Class40, which he bought in 2022. "We managed to get to the start, but it was the electronics that failed and we didn't have the best budget. The real handicap here isn't the view, it's the lack of money! " . A very tight budget hasn't stopped him from entering the MED MAX Occitanie - Saïdia Resorts, with his young co-skipper, Thibault Lecarpentier, 26, a sailor and architect, after taking his Class40 from Lorient. " I know the Mediterranean, smiles this Marseillais by adoption. It's going to be a bumpy ride, a fight, we'll have everything. With my old boat, we set the reference time for Marseille-Carthage with a disabled crew. Plus delivery trips to Tunisia and Sardinia. This time, the Balearics and Morocco. It's going to be great.
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