Charles Devanneaux woke up from a night on the tequila to find he'd agreed to race in the 2023 Sydney to Hobart.
It all started when Devanneaux, who runs a boat dealership in California, was cruising off the coast of Mexico with his long-time friend and fellow sailor Pierre Follenfant.
The Frenchmen were discussing races into which they could enter Devanneaux's new boat Lenny, a Beneteau First 44 that arrived at his shipyard this April.
The Transpacific Yacht Race, a 2225 nautical-mile epic from Los Angeles to Honolulu, was a natural choice for the American-based Devanneaux.
But the Hobart had been on Devanneaux's radar since a friend sailed it in 1998 and after a few tequilas, he was enthusiastic about following the Transpac with a trip to Australia.
"(Follenfant) said, 'Why don't we do it?' I said, 'Yeah, yeah!'," Devanneaux told AAP.
"When I woke up, I didn't know it was serious. I will always remember when I was climbing the stairs on the boat and there were all these charts on the table.
"I was like, 'Holy s***, what did we do?'"
Follenfant's enthusiasm meant there was no backing out, and before Devanneaux knew it, he was plotting to have the yacht sailed to Sydney via Fiji and New Caledonia.
"At the end of the cruise, the whole plan was written - the number of miles, what do we need to do, how many will be on board, the water, the food," Devanneaux said.
With only 200 miles on the proverbial odometer, Lenny placed second in her division at the Transpac in July and ninth overall on handicap - not bad for a first hit-out.
But Devanneaux knew the Hobart would come with other challenges.
Namely, Devanneaux was intent on having Follenfant on board as his sailing master, which meant finding an all-French crew; Follenfant can't speak English.
But Devanneaux insisted on having Follenfant by his side. After all, it was watching hearing of the veteran's sailing exploits that sparked Devanneaux's love of the sport as a child.
"There was these guys Pierre Follenfant and Jean-François Fountaine who crossed the Atlantic double-handed on the first maxi, giant catamaran, that was in 1982," he said.
"I was nine years old, and that was like the birth of my dream."
The pair first crossed paths in the 1990s racing against one another in France and when Follenfant was short of a crew member for a race one day, Devanneaux put his hand up.
As mates and sailing teammates, they've navigated still and rough waters together in the years since.
Follenfant was on board when Devanneaux lost his father, who fell overboard and to his death during a race six years ago.
The tragedy opened Devanneaux's eyes to the dangers of off-shore racing, but never quelled his passion for the sport.
"On my boat, there are life jackets the whole time," Devanneaux said.
"You sleep with your life jacket the whole. We live in it, we fart in it, we do everything in it.
"My relationship with safety now has maybe changed, but not my love of sailing."
Bonded by years on the water, Devanneaux and Follenfant are ready to join forces once again for their Hobart debuts.
"I feel so safe when I'm with (Follenfant) because he's so calm and he's seen so much s*** in his life on the boat that there's never a problem, there's only a solution," Devanneaux said.
"He's as calm as I am excited, it's the right balance.
"Racing the Sydney to Hobart is kind of a legendary race. It is so exciting."
