Documentary series
SEASON 2022 :
construction of the boat
Teaser1 min
From dream to reality
Episode 14 min
What boat for the next 2024 around the world race?
Continuing to lead the race is essential for Samantha Davies. The Initiatives-Coeur project needs the media in order to raise awareness and to collect donations to save children with heart disease. To build a high-performance boat, everything starts from the drawing board with naval architect Sam Manuard.
Episode 27 min
Assembling the hull and deck
At the shipyard, everyone is busy working on the resin moulds, carbon fibres and structural partitions that will soon form the new Imoca Initiatives-Cœur. Each stage is essential to build this Formula 1 boat, which must be both solid and light.
Episode 35 min
Painting the boat
The Initiatives-Cœur team in Lorient is not short of work to finalise Sam Davies' race boat. They are fitting the cap, drilling for the fittings, sanding and painting the boat.
Episode 42 min
Foil manufacture
Do you know how the sails of a racing boat are made and painted? In this episode, discover the new face that will adorn the main sail of Initiatives-Cœur. The portrait of Naylah was created by the painter Titouan Lamazou, UNESCO ambassador for peace, who is also the famous sailor who won the 1st edition of endée Globe in 1990.
Episode 53 min
Making and painting sails
Do you know how the sails of a racing boat are made and painted? In this episode, discover the new face that will adorn the main sail of Initiatives-Cœur. The portrait of Naylah was created by the painter Titouan Lamazou, UNESCO ambassador for peace, who is also the famous sailor who won the 1st edition of endée Globe in 1990.
Data sheet
Season 2021 : A family at heart
Episode 16 min
Welcoming a sick child
Le rôle des familles d'accueil est essentiel dans la grande chaine de solidarité de l'association Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque. Ces familles acceptent d'accueillir des enfants malades pendant leur séjour en France qui dure environ 2 mois. Une belle aventure dont ils témoignent avec sensibilité.
Episode 24 min
Open heart surgery
Hosts families have an incredible role to play in supporting the children right up to their operations. In this great chain of solidarity to save children left in the care of Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque, staff in the caring system also play an essential role.
Episode 34 min
Going back home after the operation
The outcome of open heart surgery are often spectacular. A child can now run, play as normal. That is the sign that marks the end of the child’s stay in France. An emotional time for all, as experienced by the Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque host families.
Data sheet
SEASON 2020 "At the heart of the Globe"
summary : Plunge into the private lives of the Initiatives-Coeur team. 8 months of preparation full of efforts and doubts, failures and successes. Despite the short time-frame and the added complication of the coronavirus, they are ready to go all out to be at the starting block of the hardest race in the world: the Vendée Globe.
1 : Getting ready
Trailer1 min
Meeting the deadline for the Vendée Globe!
S1-Episode 17 min
The Vendée Globe is
almost on us
Eight years ago, Sam Davies retired from the Vendée Globe due to damage. This year it faces again the most difficult race in the world. This time with a double mission: sporting and humanitarian. Confident, her team is preparing a boat for her to match her ambition when a grain of salt stalls the machine.
S1-Episode 27 min
A committed team
The tension is palpable within the Initiatives-Cœur team, an important part of the boat seems weakened. Sam remembers that when she agreed to take the helm of the Initiatives-Cœur boat in 2017, she also took up the torch of humanitarian engagement. His team will not give up.
S1-Episode 36 min
Children at the heart of the project
Sam's humanitarian mission in Burundi strengthened her commitment to the cause of children with heart disease. But her role as an ambassador requires a lot of her time. Fortunately Sam can count on the dedication of her team. Notably her boat-Captain Eric Lamy who she trusts completely, especially following the 2018 incident.
S1-Episode 410 min
Women sailors
Few sports allow women to compete with men as equal. 6 women race the Vendée Globe this year. It requires intense physical preparation. But Sam is also expected at the airport to greet Enoch, who is arriving from Africa for heart surgery. As soon as he arrives, he goes to the hospital for preoperative examinations. Its operation is fully supported thanks to the French association "Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque" and the financial support of Initiatives-Cœur's sponsors.
S1-Episode 57 min
Never let down
The COVID 19 pandemic stops everything abruptely. Like everyone else, Sam is stuck at home. She sets up a sport's routine with the means at hand. As soon as the confinement ends, the boat must return to the water and pass the gauge tests and the 90° test in order to sail the sea again.
S1-Episode 610 min
Action
A high sense of excitement transpires from this first outing,as the team will now find out whether their technical choice will benefit the boat's performance. Giant foils have been added allowing the boat to reach optimal speeds to really compete. Sam and Romain prepare for the Vendée Globe, but Sam must take a quick break to go to Nantes' hospital where her young 'protégé' is about to have open heart surgery.
S1-Episode 78 min
New beginnings
As little Enoch regains his strength following his open heart surgery, Sam races in the first competition of the season known as The Vendée Arctique Les Sables. It is an important sporting test for Sam who is also having to juggle it with her persuasive skills encouraging web users to support the children’s cause. Sam finishes 3rd for this last test before the Round the World race. It's a true success for the whole team. The boat literally flies above the waves and reaches unmatched speeds!
S1-Episode 88 min
All shook up
Will the choice of shorter mast and large foils pay off? Training with the other competitors is a key moment. Sailing by heavy weather also reveals the hardiness of the boat and will lead to some ergonomic adjustments to avoid injuries. It's a good job Sam has gone through intensive physical training all year round to boost her endurance.
Enoch has recovered fully and is now visiting Sam on her boat. His laughter makes for a much needed break for Sam.
S1-Episode 97 min
Tension grows
After a final check up, the boat is ready for the Vendée Globe. Food and supplies stocked up on board,the boat is heading to Les Sables d'Olonne. In the event's village, the Initiatives-Cœur stand is always full and collects generous donations from the public. Under lockdown like all the other skippers before the start of the race, Sam cannot accompany Enoch to the airport when he leaves to join his parents in Ivory Coast. But the little boy’s "joie de vivre" is a great source of motivation for a successful round-the-world trip and saving yet other children with fragile hearts.
S1-Episode 107 min
The Race finally
It's the big day, the boat is ready, the sailor gives last interviews. Family, friends, partners come to greet her before departure. Apart from Romain Attanasio, no one can give her a last hug, but they would like to. This is the beginning of the great adventure.
The children
and team are counting on me.
I have to hold it
all together
2 : Vendée Globe backstage
While Sam travels around the world, find out what's going on ashore. Among the partners, at Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque, which welcomes the first children saved thanks to Initiatives- cœur, there is a lot of excitement around this extraordinary adventure. Initiatives-Coeur is not just a boat on the water, it is a project that saves children thanks to the commitment of thousands of people.
S2-Episode 12 min
Behind the scenes of the association
At Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque headquarters, the files of children with heart disease are arriving in large numbers. Professor Francine Leca and her team study each case with the utmost attention. Marie-Désirée just arrived from the Ivory Coast.
S2-Episode 26 min
At the heart of the project at K.LINE
Meeting with K.LINE, a company who sponsors the boat and is a patron of Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque. K.Line is bringing the project right into its factories.
S2-Episode 32 min
A surgeon involved
This is the big day for Marie-Désirée. Surrounded by the loving care of Anne and Daniel, her foster parents, she meets the surgeon who will decide on her operation.
S2-Episode 46 min
At the heart of the project at VINCI Énergies
In 2017, VINCI Energies joined the Initiatives-cœur adventure, both sponsor of the boat and financial support of the association Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque. Throughout the world, employees live to the rhythm of Sam's race and get involved in solidarity collections.
S2-Épisode 52 min
Convalesence
Cured thanks to a heart operation financed by Initiatives-Cœur, the little girl from Côte d'Ivoire can communicate with Sam Davies who is still sailing the ocean during the Vendée Globe race.
S2-Épisode 65 min
The company Initiatives at the origin of Heart Initiatives
Behind each beautiful project there are women and men, a desire, an energy. At the heart of Initiatives-cœur there are also children. Both the children with heart disease but also hundreds of thousands of students who discover, thanks to Initiatives and their teachers, solidarity, perseverance and even resilience.
Data sheet