Jean-Baptiste Bernaz has been knocking on the door of greatness for some years. France's top Laser sailor won the Laser Radial Youth World Championship back in 2005 and three years later, aged 21, was representing his country at the Olympic Games in China. Bernaz finished an impressive 8th place, although only managed 10th four years later at London 2012. In 2016, a second place at the Laser World Championships marked Bernaz as one of the medal favourites for Rio 2016, but he came 5th. Close - but not close enough - to that elusive Olympic podium.
The trouble is, the field is wide open in the Laser class right now. In the past, the legendary Brazilian Robert Scheidt dominated the fleet for the best part of a decade, winning nine World Championships. When Scheidt graduated to the Star class, Tom Slingsby took up the mantle of 'man to beat', winning five world titles and cruising to Olympic gold at London 2012. Since Slingsby moved into the America's Cup, however, there has been no single dominant performer.
Bernaz is one of many capable of greatness one week, yet who struggles to follow up at the next regatta. The starkest example of this came earlier this season when the Frenchman dominated the Sailing World Cup on his home waters of Hyeres (he lives down the road in Saint-Maxime). However, little more than a week later he was competing in La Rochelle at the Laser European Championships and only finished 25th. Why? "I think it's the density of the level in the Laser fleet that makes it so hard to be consistent, because you cannot be competitive in the race without 100% of your capacity.
"Immediately after Hyeres I went straight to the TP52 that I work on, to do some work on the boat and some sailing. So I came to La Rochelle really tired and I think you cannot afford to be like this. If you're not at 100% the other guys will beat you. The level between the top sailors is so close."
If it's hard to maintain the level from one week to the next, spare a thought for the overworked tennis players on the international ATP circuit. "I have a good friend, Alizé Cornet, one of the best women's tennis players, and she tells me that sometimes they go to an event just to prepare for the next one. She's not going there to win but to work on a specific part of her game, and to recover a little bit. That's probably what you should do in all sports, including sailing. Fortunately we are not required to do all the events, so in the future I will choose my battles."
Sailing the TP52 couldn't be more different from the Laser. It's big, it involves a big team and it's super-technical. The Laser is none of those things, and it's a wonder how Bernaz - who has been sailing the simple singlehander for more than half his life - manages to avoid getting stale. Is there a danger of getting bored in the Laser? "Absolutely not, I've been sailing since 2002 and I'm still learning. It's really interesting. The point I love the most is I like to win, but I like to win against the other person. If you go in the other [more technical] classes, maybe you don't have more than 100 boats like we did at some regattas this year."
Now with the 2024 Olympics set to take place in Paris, and the sailing regatta in Marseille, not far from his home town, there is an incentive for Bernaz to keep sailing the Laser a while longer. "We'll have to see how I feel after Tokyo. I would love to be here in 2024. Why not?" Well, for one thing, he'd by 37 years old by those Games, although Scheidt finished in 4th place - just one in front of Bernaz - at Rio 2016 when the Brazilian was 43. So age might not be a barrier, and there's nothing like performing in front of a home crowd to raise your motivation levels.
Aside from his Laser and TP52 racing, Bernaz has also enjoyed his experience in the Star Sailors League. "The Star is a really nice boat to sail and it's been fun to race with my coach, Pascal [Rambeau, an Olympic bronze medallist], who was my crew. The tuning is really important because the mast is pretty soft and all the millimetres you gain [on the race course], it makes a difference, so it's good to have someone with a lot of experience like Pascal."
Bernaz laughs in embarrassment at the memory of his first tack in the Star. "The first time I tried to tack I did a 360, because you should release the tiller to go under the boom and I fell on my arse and ended up sitting down on the bottom of the boat. So the boat just kept turning. Luckily we were alone at the time."
Generally, though, Laser sailors tend to adapt very quickly to the big heavy keelboat. "The tacking angles are very different, much tighter in a Star. And if you overstand a layline it is very painful in the Star, you learn not to do that! But in many other respects the Laser is good preparation for Star sailing. It's a really nice boat for surfing the waves, and you can sail by the lee, so downwind it's quite similar."
Singlehanded sailors can sometimes forget there are other people to consider on bigger boats, and the time he tacked without warning Rambeau of the impending manoeuvre, he wasn't popular. "You only do that once," Bernaz smiles sheepishly.
His first SSL event was in Switzerland where he finished 5th. Then came the invite to the SSL Finals in the Bahamas and, against some of the best in the world, Bernaz again came 5th - a very impressive result. Does he believe in beginner's luck? "It's true that making things simple is usually good. I think even if it's not the first event, you should stay in this [frame] of mind. Pascal has won a medal in the Star, so whenever he made a suggestion there is not much point in me questioning it. Better to just do it."
by Andy Rice - SailingIntelligence
SSL Press Officer since 2015