Marc Thiercelin: Visionary of the Sea
For him, sailing has never been just a sport. It’s a way of life, a sensory language, a constant dialogue with the elements. Always in balance on the moving edge of the horizon, Marc Thiercelin—nicknamed “Captain Marck”—embodies the noblest spirit of ocean racing: endurance, daring, humility, and a sensitive understanding of the world.
Five solo circumnavigations, including four Vendée Globe races, all marked by remarkable consistency and unshakable determination. In 1996, he finished second after 113 days at sea, facing contrary winds and solitude. Two years later, he brilliantly followed up with the Around Alone, confirming an exemplary path built on rigor, anticipation, and lifelong learning.
But Marc Thiercelin is much more than a world-class sailor. He’s a man of transmission, curious about the world, cultures, and knowledge. Trained at the École Boulle, passionate about beautiful images, a lover of pure lines, noble materials, and the precision of craft, he sees each project as a work of art. He captures the sea as precisely as he navigates it, his aesthete’s eye informs his voyages, his books, his talks. For him, imagery is a vector of meaning, a poetic extension of his relationship with the world.
Now in his sixties, he returns to the Vendée Globe scene with a visionary project. His IMOCA, named Marco Polo, is unlike any other: built of wood, bamboo, hemp, and bio-based resins, it represents a credible, inspiring alternative to the dominant ultra-tech trends. This racing boat, both high-performing and eco-conscious, is a manifesto. A prototype of ecological transition, designed as a bold statement for future generations of sailors.
By his side: cutting-edge engineers, committed artisans, and partners aware of the urgent need to reinvent our ways of being at sea. More than a comeback, it’s a mission: to prove that we can combine sporting excellence, sustainable innovation, and a poetic vision of the world.
Explorer of peoples and oceans, writer, speaker, visual artist as much as seafarer, Marc Thiercelin connects extremes with rare coherence. He doesn’t conquer the ocean he listens to it, crosses it, tells its stories. And perhaps that’s his greatest achievement: inspiring us, in turn, to hoist our sails differently.
More info: www.marcthiercelin.com
Instagram: @marc_thiercelin
Your first discovery of photography?
Marc Thiercelin: My aunt, Monique Lefebvre de Longeville, a children’s photographer (founder of the agency La Bande à Marco, then Lucky Mome), who started photographing us in 1964/65. For years, we were child models for 3Suisses, La Redoute, Elle, Kickers, New Man & Co. Then all the photographers who crossed my personal journey since 1974… Klotchkoff, Doisneau, and later professionals like Demarchelier, Jonvelle, Mingam, and my younger sister Emmanuelle Thiercelin… the list is far too long!
The image-maker who inspires you most?
Marc Thiercelin: Mainly Vivian Maier and Robert Doisneau.
If you had been a photographer, what image would you have loved to take?
Marc Thiercelin: This one!
Workers on top of the Woolworth Building, New York, 1926
Which image moved you the most?
Marc Thiercelin: Richard Lam’s photo during the Vancouver riots in June 2011.
© Richard Lam
And which image made you angry?
Marc Thiercelin: Nick Ut’s photo, of course—“Kim Phuc Phan Thi,” taken in August 1972.
© Nick Ut
A key image in your personal pantheon?
Marc Thiercelin: Bernard Moitessier’s “selfie” in The Long Way during the 1969 Golden Globe (the first non-stop solo circumnavigation).
In your opinion, the essential quality for a good photographer?
Marc Thiercelin: Curiosity, presence, a keen sense of what’s happening around you. The ability to step away from the bigger picture to catch a fragment, a second something unique!
What is perfection in an image for you?
Marc Thiercelin: The power to evoke emotion. Like music—just as hearing a song brings back a memory, certain images stay with you forever.
If you were a photographer, who would you most want to photograph?
Marc Thiercelin: Nature—and the link between nature and human intelligence (biomimicry).
An indispensable photography book?
Marc Thiercelin: Homage to Humanity by Jimmy Nelson.
Your first camera?
Marc Thiercelin: A waterproof camera—sadly, I’ve forgotten the brand. But what marked me most were the lenses on Pentax and Hasselblad cameras in the 60s.
The one you use today?
Marc Thiercelin: My iPhone (an 11 Pro)… yes, I really said 11 Pro! (Laughs)
Your favorite addiction?
Marc Thiercelin: Cinema, music, and imagery.
The best way for you to disconnect?
Marc Thiercelin: Being truly yourself. Accepting time as it passes (without taking a selfie).
Your greatest quality?
Marc Thiercelin: I don’t have enough ink to write it down!
An image to illustrate a new banknote?
Marc Thiercelin: New professions, new human & technological horizons.
A job you would never want to do?
Marc Thiercelin: Prison guard—or, more generally, any kind of “guard” (park, temple, goat…).
What connects photography and sailing in your view?
Marc Thiercelin: Observation, patience—patience—patience. Moments of eternity that vanish. Never knowing what’s coming next…
Your most extravagant act as a sailor?
Marc Thiercelin: Being stuck on land.
A country or culture you’ve never visited and dream of discovering?
Marc Thiercelin: Japan. Since childhood, I’ve eaten Japanese food, read Japanese books, and been fascinated by a culture that feels like the complete opposite of ours. As children, my mother introduced us to macrobiotics. Later, I fell in love with Japanese design and wanted to attend the same school as Kenzo Takada. Ancient architecture, natural materials, technology it all deeply fascinates me.
A place you never tire of?
Marc Thiercelin: Islands—Bréhat, Porquerolles, and others I’ve encountered all over the world.
Your greatest regret?
Marc Thiercelin: Joker.
When it comes to social media, are you more Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or Snapchat?
Marc Thiercelin: LinkedIn & Instagram.
Color or black and white?
Marc Thiercelin: In the beginning, there was black and white. I was born in 1960, back when the world was mostly black and white.
Daylight or artificial light?
Marc Thiercelin: Daylight.
The most photogenic city?
Marc Thiercelin: Rio de Janeiro.
If God existed, would you ask to photograph him or take a selfie with him?
Marc Thiercelin: Strange question! Actually, I don’t believe in God or any deity, human or not! But just in case, he’d pose for me… because I am God. Ha! (Laughs)
An image that reflects the current state of the Western world?
Marc Thiercelin: Selfies—unfortunately.
What’s missing in today’s world?
Marc Thiercelin: The desire to slow down.
And if you had to do it all over again?
Marc Thiercelin: Well lets go back! and start again, because life is movement and here we go
