Marie Vuillard, Laury’s girlfriend, sailing on Pelangi in the role of First Mate, off the coast of Port Blanc, Côtes D’Armor, Brittany, August 2022.

“I first met Laury in 2017 when we were studying on a course to become sailing instructors. We fell in love, but our relationship was on and off for a couple of years. In May 2020, Laury invited me to join him and his friend Karim on Karim’s boat to sail from Concarneau in Brittany to Port Medoc near Bordeaux. Laury was Skipper and I was First Mate. It was a wonderful trip with great harmony between the three of us and we stopped off at many beautiful places. I was pleased that my last experience with Laury was positive. When we left each other at the train station, Laury shouted back, ‘Hola Maria - I love you!’ I didn’t want him to go back to Lyon to work in a sailing school on a lake - I told him he would be better off back on the sea in Brittany, but he said he needed to return to work. Fortunately, I was surrounded by many of our mutual sailing friends when I heard the devastating news. I feel sad that I will never feel his arms around me again.”