Dee Caffari and Brian Thompson Complete Transat (Photo by Marcel Mochet)
Dee and Brian completed the two-handed Transat Jacques Vabre race from Le Havre, France to Costa Rica onboard Aviva. The first week of the race saw the fleet battle through some extreme weather conditions and subsequent damage to boats forced four Open 60’s, including fellow British sailor Alex Thomson, to retire from racing.
Dee and Brian had their fair share of problems but were able to replace a lost wind instrument in a becalmed period. Generator issues meant that both sailors had to hand steer for the majority of the time as they were without the pilot, however, a speedy pit stop in St Lucia for a generator part enabled them to get powered back up and stay in the race. Towards the final stages, the duo raced hard to finish in 8th position from an original fleet of fourteen IMOCA Open 60 yachts that started the transatlantic race 19 days ago. In the last few hours of the race Aviva experienced very light winds making for a frustrating and protracted finish into the port of Limon.
The Transat Jacques Vabre was the last of the races validated by IMOCA in the two year Open 60 season and Aviva’s result earned additional points for both Dee and Brian. Out of 33 skippers, Caffari was ranked 6th, in her first full IMOCA season, and Thompson 8th. The World Championship title was won by Marc Guillemot, skipper of Safran.
Dee commented:
“To have finished 6th in the IMOCA rankings, alongside noted sailors like Michel Desjoyeaux and Marc Guillemot is an added bonus and makes me very proud of how much Aviva and I have achieved in the past two years.”
On arriving at the dock in Port Limon, Dee said:
“ The race was long and it was hard, in three different parts, the beginning and the stormy stuff, getting sorted out and then the finale in the Caribbean Sea. So it was very eventful, highs and lows. We have things to deal with and obviously a frustrating finish, but to be this close at the end of a race has been cool.
This is in a different league to my last Transat Jacques Vabre. Sailing with Brian has been great. He is cool and calm and you think: ‘ok this is fine and you get on with it.' So the intensity I have dealt with is much greater than I am used to. It was a much more enjoyable race than the Vendée Globe, and it was nice to be in among the people who were leading. The company I am keeping now is something I never even dreamed of. Now I want to carry on. I need to find the backing but I feel like I am growing at such a speed. This was a great race to do, you learn so much with the right person on board.”
Having now had chance to enjoy the creature comforts of dry land, like a shower, fresh food, a long sleep in a real bed and interaction with lots of people all at once, I have had chance to reflect on the race.
Having worked so hard and held such good positions during the race eighth place was disappointing at the time. The reality is that any of the four boats finishing with us could have finished in fifth and any order could have followed. We were in squall territory and it was a certain amount of luck for the final few miles. Even the conversations ashore with the other skippers and people involved in the race have all been talking about our huge gains at the end and also how fast we were at the start and during the big storm we all faced during the first week. This has off course made me feel better and I cannot deny I loved sailing Aviva again in a big race and it was great sailing with Brian. We had some problems to face and we did it all in a positive manner and had huge fun as well as the hard sailing together.
Now we are preparing the boat for the delivery home. Hannah Jenner and Katy Miller are busy helping with jobs on the boat to learn their way around as they will be joining James and Harry for the trip home. Let’s hope they will be home for Christmas. I know Aviva will look after them and I am confident that they will look after her well for me.
On arriving at the dock in Port Limon, Brian Thompson said:
“It was an interesting place to have the stealth play. There were light winds to the south on the more direct course, so people were deciding how far north to go, and we went a fairly direct course. It turned out there was a front which came through from Panama which gained us, we got through it early in the day and had clear skies for the rest of the day. Then we had nice sailing for the afternoon, maybe a little slower but we sailed less miles. But then we were next to W-Hotels and we thought it was Akena, but it was W-Hotels who had been 100 miles ahead. Then we were in constant squalls one after the other and were never becalmed until right near the end. They must have had the one squall which drove them all the way in.
Arrival At The Finish (Photo by Marcel Mochet / AFP)
It was a perfect, swashbuckling finale to bring the ninth edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre two handed transatlantic race towards its final conclusion. Marc Guillemot and Charles Caudrelier played the starring roles some days ago, Guillemot the hero of the Vendée Globe winning the top prize, but the final full day of racing proved a cliffhanger.
After over 5,300 miles and nearly 20 days of racing, when all four protagonists, scrapping over 5th to 8th places emerged from the cover of stealth mode at 1000hrs GMT/UTC (0400hrs local) this morning, less than eight miles separated fifth placed Veolia Environnement (Roland Jourdain and Jean Luc Nélias) from seventh placed Aviva (Dee Caffari and Brian Thompson).
And Akéna Vérandas (Arnaud Boissieres and Vincent Riou) was a further 15.1 miles behind the British duo
Having held fifth place for five days – since they broke into the Caribbean – the Spanish duo on W-Hotels, were never going to give it away easily.
Passed for the second time in the final 12 hours by Veolia Environnement, when the French duo rocketed off into the rainy gloom of yet another squall, on the strength of a sail change the Spanish pair just could not make in the gusty 25 knots breeze, they felt that they were destined for sixth.
But their determination never wavered.
The next squall brought them back to rescue their fifth, arriving like a spectre from out of the murk at 17-18 knots to haunt Veolia for the third and final time, just half a mile from the finish.
It was perhaps appropriate that the surprised Spaniards – on their own voyage of discovery, racing an IMOCA Open 60 for the first time ever – cemented their success arriving Puerto Limon, in the wake of their legendary forebear Christopher Columbus who sailed to the New World in here in 1502.
Ribes and Pella finished four minutes and 16 second ahead of their French rivals, exhausted but pleased to have taken fifth, in between two of the most successful IMOCA Open 60 racing skippers, Michel Desjoyeaux and Jourdain.
Akena Verandas Making For The Finish (Photo by Marcel Mochet / AFP)
They had only sailed together for a few days before embarking on this race, and learned as they came down the track. Standing smiling in the torrential rain on the dockside they admitted to many mistakes and ‘beginners errors’ but they can be justly proud of their result in this highest quality field.
The Spanish were delighted. But there was disappointment for Dee Caffari and Brian Thompson on Aviva. At one point they were, according to Ribes, 100 metres away from Aviva.
They waited for the British pair to tack and, in the end, chose to do their own thing, gaining 15 miles in to the finish.
The British pair slowed in a final light zone, losing out to Akéna Vérandas in the last stages to finish eighth, just 27 minutes behind the 2004-5 Vendée Globe winner Vincent Riou and skipper Arnaud Boissieres.
Caffari and Thompson’s disappointment in losing out in the high stakes scuffle, which was largely carried out in torrential tropical rain and changeable winds, was obvious but Caffari reflected enthusiastically on how much she has improved since she competed in the last edition in 2007 as an IMOCA greenhorn.
Gitana Eighty Crossing The Finish (Photo by Marcel Mochet /AFP/ Riva.fr)
All four boats finished within just over three and a half hours. 1876 was due to finish by around 1800hrs GMT and Sam Davies and Sidney Gavignet on Artemis later tonight.
Quotes:
Pepe Ribes, (ESP), W-Hotels:
“ The last 36 hours have been no sleep, no eating, nothing. We played the stealth card and so did everyone else at the same time. And when we played the stealth it was the first time that we saw a boat, with Veolia just crossing our bows, that was yesterday morning. Then since then we passed them once and then they passed us again, then we passed them again just half a mile from the finish line. I really don’t know what made the difference in the end. We went to the beach and then we saw Aviva, who were very close to us, only 50 metres away.
We went with Aviva to the beach and we waited for them to tack but they did not tack, and so we tacked and from there we were reaching really, really fast maybe 18-19 knots.
Then we saw a light and thought it was a cruising boat. We were sure Veolia were way ahead. In one of the squalls they managed to drop their spinnaker and put up their masthead genoa and go straight, so we had to bear away. So they left. And when we saw a green light we thought it was a cruising boat. I looked with the binos and told Alex and we could not believe.”
“ I think it is good result for us, very very good. We were not expecting such a good result at all. We did not know the level, and for me I thought between tenth and fourteenth and we finished fifth, so, fantastic. It is a good result for me, and I hope for Spain.”
“ I feel very, very tired. But we made many, many mistakes. At the beginning, not so much now. We made a lot of mistakes and lost a lot of miles. But we are going forwards.”
“ I think we were pushing the boat very, very hard and broke a lot of things. We were good together. We tried to share everything and learn about each other. He has a lot of strong points and I have strong points and it works well. He is more like an offshore sailor, more relaxed and I am more go, go, go. It is a good mix, I am always 100%. We pushed, I don’t care, I sail it like a Volvo boat, we keep pushing and I don’t care if the boat breaks.”
“But we made mistakes, it is double handed and it is new for us.”
Alex Pella (ESP) W-Hotels:
“ The boat is OK, but we broke a lot of small things, the spinnaker. We had problems with the pilots, sometimes they worked, sometimes they did not work. But we fived them with a spare compass, and they worked, and then two days later they did not. But the boat is nice and work towards the Barcelona World Race.
Pepe is a very good sailor. He has so much experience and pushes very hard, he has experience with the Volvo boats which helped, and I learned so much from sailing with Pepe.”
“ On the one hand he is a very methodical guy, very ordered but he wants to push all the time, to push hard.”
“ At the beginning of the race we had decided to go south, but then when we saw some going west, we said ok we try to catch this option but it was too late. In fact there was a time when we tried but we were too late. We went with the wrong option.
But we are here!”
“ Foncia and Akena went further south. We had a maximum of 50 knots in the third storm and big waves.”
“ I am really, really happy. We are hear to learn the boat. This is a training for the Barcelona World Race and here we are in Costa Rica, it is incredible….in between Foncia and Veolia. It is fantastic!”
Dee Caffari (GBR) Aviva:
“ The race was long and it was hard, in three different parts, the beginning and the stormy stuff, getting sorted out and then the final in the Caribbean Sea. So it was very eventful, highs and lows. We have things to deal with and obviously a frustrating finish, but to be this close at the end of a race has been cool.
This is in a different league to my last Transat Jacques Vabre. Sailing with Brian has been great. He is cool and calm and you think: ‘ok this is fine and you get on with it.’ So the intensity I have dealt with is much greater than I am used to. It was a much more enjoyable race than the Vendée Globe, and it was nice to be in among the people who were leading. The company I am keeping now is something I never even dreamed of..
Now I want to carry on. I need to find the backing but I feel like I am growing at such a speed. This was a great race to do, you learn so much with the right person on board.”
Brian Thompson (GBR) Aviva:
“It was an interesting place to have the stealth play. Ther were light winds to the south on the more direct course, so people were deciding how far north to go, and we went a fairly direct course. It turned out there was a front which came through from Panama which gained us, we got through it early in the day and had clear skies for the rest of the day. Then when had nice sailing for the afternoon, maybe a little slower but we sailed less miles. But then we were next to W-Hotels and we thought it was Akenas, but it was W-Hotels who had been 100 miles ahead. Then we were in constant squalls one after the other and were never becalmed until right near the end. They must have had the one squall which drove them all the way in.”
Roland Jourdain:
“Before, it was the English, now we have the Spanish! It was hard.! It was tough but fun, a great race for first place in this second group! It was intense with many challenges. We knew this course would be more varied in terms of the different weather conditions and that really was the case. We even had our small technical pit stop, we like them with Jean-Luc. That’s why I plan to make stages races. We would like to have played with the top of the fleet. The technical stop we could have done without. We did not think it would cost us. We were optimistic but saw time slipping.
Marco went very fast and I agree they went the right way, with the good options, but they went really, really fast.
Yesterday morning it was hell. We waited for the wind from the east and north and had southerly. We saw a boat behind and managed to escape. Yesterday evening we saw it again and gybed away. In a squall we tacked and put five miles on them. And then this morning we were sitting all but still and a racing car arrived, someone so quick we thought it was a motor boat.”
“But our boat is OK, it went well but on the other hand it is not a new boat. Veolia has gaps compared with the new boats. We still go well and make results because I know this Mobylette but it is nevertheless frustrating.”
Jean-Luc Nélias, FRA (Veolia Environnement):
“We passed W-Hotels in a squall, but they negotiated them better. When we cam out from stealth, we realized we had made five miles on them, and then this morning we took another squall and got it back. From a result point of view we are not that happy. We could have battled it out with boats such as Mike Golding but the others are faster. It is nevertheless frustrating because out mainsail mast track was broken. The first reef has been very useful. But we are glad we got here. We laughed a lot with Bilou. It was a good adventure.”
Times summary
Breaking the finish line at 11:41:44hrs GMT Friday 27th November (05:41:44hrs local time, Costa Rica) after sailing for 18d 22hrs 11mins 44seconds at an 10.41knots average for the theoretical course (4730 miles) since leaving Le Havre on Sunday 8th November, Spain’s Pepe Ribes and Alex Pella on W-Hotels took fifth place in the IMOCA Open 60 class in the ninth edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre two handed Transatlantic race. Ribes and Pella sailed a distance of 5790 miles at an average of 12.75kts.
W-Hotels finish 3 days 2 hours 49 minutes 34 seconds behind the winner Safran.
Breaking the finish line at 11:46:00hrs GMT Friday 27th November (05:46:00hrs local time, Costa Rica) after sailing for 18d 22hrs 16mins 00 seconds at an 10.41 knots average for the theoretical course (4730 miles) since leaving Le Havre on Sunday 8th November, France’s Roland Jourdain and Jean Luc Nélias on Veolia Environnement took sixth place in the IMOCA Open 60 class in the ninth edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre two handed Transatlantic race. Jourdain and Nélias sailed a distance of 5734miles at an average of 12.52kts.
Veolia Environnement finish 3 days 2 hours 53 minutes and 50 seconds behind the winner Safran.
Breaking the finish line at 14:50:12hrs GMT Friday 27th November (08:50:12hrs local time, Costa Rica) after sailing for 19d 1h 20m 12s seconds at an 10.34 knots average for the theoretical course (4730 miles) since leaving Le Havre on Sunday 8th November, France’s Arnaud Boissières and Vincent Riou on Akena Veranda took seventh place in the IMOCA Open 60 class in the ninth edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre two handed Transatlantic race. Boissières and Riou sailed a distance of
5823miles at an average of 12.73kts.
Akéna Vérandas finished 3days 05hours 58min 02s seconds behind the winner Safran.
Breaking the finish line at 15:17:12hrs GMT Friday 27th November (09:17:12hrs local time, Costa Rica) after sailing for 19d 1h 46m 12s seconds at an 10.33 knots average for the theoretical course (4730 miles) since leaving Le Havre on Sunday 8th November, Great Britain’s Dee Caffari and Brian Thompson on Aviva took eighth place in the IMOCA Open 60 class in the ninth edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre two handed Transatlantic race.
Caffari and Thompson sailed a distance of 5700 miles at 12,45 knots average .
Aviva finished 3d 06h 25min 02secs behind the winner Safran.
Volvo Ocean Race Leg 7 Boston, USA to Galway, Ireland
(click on image to view gallery)
Volvo Ocean Race Boston To Galway Start Images
Volvo Ocean Race Boston In Port Race
Volvo Ocean Race Boston In-Port Race Images
Volvo Ocean Race Leg 6 Finish - Rio de Janeiro, Brasil to Boston, USA
Volvo Ocean Race Leg 6 Finish In Boston Images – Ericsson 4 Wins
Transat Finish Boston MA (Photo By George Bekris)
We Have A Winner
Michel Desjoyeaux The Victor
At 2129 GMT (Tuesday, 8.6.04) Frenchman Michel Desjoyeaux crossed the finish line of The Transat at the entrance to Boston Harbour to claim victory in the 60ft ORMA multihull class of the historic solo transatlantic race.
Emotional scenes surrounded the arrival of Michel Desjoyeaux on board Geant as he set a new transatlantic race record from Plymouth to Boston of 8 days, 8 hours, 29 minutes and 55 seconds. He raced the 2800 mile course at an average speed of 13.61 knots. The previous record for the race was held by solo round the world record holder Francis Joyon who set a record of 9 days, 23 hours and 21 minutes in the last race in 2000. Desjoyeaux has taken 38 hours and 52 minutes off the record.
Desjoyeaux crossed the finish line between Deer Island Light and Long Island Head Light at the entrance to Boston Harbour , four miles from downtown Boston , at a speed of 23 knots. Support boats and spectators were awaiting his arrival. This classic solo race that began in 1960 is raced against the prevailing winds and conditions of the North Atlantic and the Transat race lived up to its reputation as the toughest transatlantic race. A series of low depressions delivered 45+ knot head winds and huge seas as the 60ft multihull’s battled their way across. In the final stages of the race, the risk of icebergs forced the boats south. The tough conditions have caused some damage in the race fleet including two dismastings and one boat, Cheminées Poujoulat-Armor Lux, which lost its keel in the 60ft monohull class.
A total of 37 boats, included 12 ORMA trimarans, started the race at 1300 GMT on 31st May and to date five boats have abandoned the race. The remainder of the ORMA fleet will finish in Boston over the next few days whilst the Open 60 monohull class leaders are expected to arrive from Saturday (12.6.04) onwards.
At 2338 GMT (Tuesday, 8.6.04) Frenchman Thomas Coville crossed the finish line of The Transat at the entrance to Boston Harbour to claim second place in the 60ft ORMA multihull class of the historic solo transatlantic race.
Coville raced the 2800 mile course in 8 days, 10 hours, 38 minutes and 0 seconds at an average speed of 13.47 knots. Michel Desjoyeaux claimed victory at 2129GMT setting a new transatlantic race record of 8 days, 8 hours, 29 minutes, 55 seconds. The previous record for the race was held by solo round the world record holder Francis Joyon who set a record of 9 days, 23 hours and 21 minutes in the last race in 2000. Desjoyeaux has taken 38 hours and 52 minutes off the record.
Despite closing on Desjoyeaux in the final stages of the race to within 26 miles at 1700GMT on Tuesday afternoon (8.6.04), Coville had no real opportunity to overtake ‘Le Professeur’ and crossed the finish line between Deer Island Light and Long Island Head Light at the entrance to Boston Harbour, four miles from downtown Boston, 2 hours 8 minutes and 5 seconds behind Desjoyeaux.
MICHEL DESJOYEAUX’S RACE:
31.5.04: Second across the start line and first ORMA 60 to reach the Eddystone Lighthouse – awarded Omega Seamaster watch.
1.6.04: First big low pressures approaches: “I’m too old to take all these waves!”
2.6.04: 0500GMT Geant takes the lead. Extreme close racing with Sodebo (Thomas Coville) only 200m apart at times through the night. Picks up speed in 35 knots, reaching conditions: “These are good winds for us. It is what the boats are designed for.” Michel Desjoyeaux/Geant current holder of Omega 24hr speed record 440 miles recorded between 0500-0500 GMT.
3.6.04: Head for centre of first major low pressure system and tacks south out of the low at approx 2030 GMT.
4.6.04: Reports 44 knot winds and 5-6m seas during the night. Claimed to have slept all night and allowing the automatic pilots to steer the boat. ORMA skippers agree to self-imposed ice waypoint 47 N 47 W.
5.6.04: Heads straight for Flemish Cap – closest ORMA to ice waypoint.
7.6.04: 150 mile spread between Geant, Sodebo and Groupama and his lead seems unassailable.
8.6.04: Reports fast and flat sailing conditions in early morning and has a 64 mile lead over Sodebo at 0500 GMT. Geant slowed by lighter airs – only makes 9 miles in two hours – and Sodebo closes down lead to 26.6 miles at 1700 GMT poll with 81 miles to the finish.
MICHEL DESJOYEAUX PROFILE:
Date of birth: 16/07/1965 (age 38)
Nationality: French
Place of birth: Concarneau
Current residence: La Foret Fouesnant
Personal status: 3 children
Previous participation in The Transat 2000 / 7th Class 1 Monohull
Mini profile:
Winner of the 2000/2001 Vendée Globe, the Solitaire du Figaro on two occasions (1992 and 1998) and the 2002 Route du Rhum, Desjoyeaux is the one of most successful single-handed offshore racers taking part in The Transat.
Desjoyeaux heralds from Port la Foret, la vallee des fous (valley of the mad) as it is known because of it being the Mecca of solo offshore racing. At 20, Desjoyeaux cut his teeth racing with Eric Tabarly on the maxi Cote d’Or in the Whitbread Round the World Race. Like the great French skipper, Desjoyeaux shares a passion for innovation. Equally, he openly shares his ideas and has been responsible for the advancement of many Figaro rookies earning himself the nickname ‘Le Professeur’ (the teacher).
Desjoyeaux’s sailing CV is impossibly long. He has been racing large multihull’s competitively since the mid-1980s and on many of the trimarans during the 1990s starting with a win in the TwoSTAR with Jean Maurel in 1990. It was in the late 1990s that Desjoyeaux graduated up from the Figaro class with his new Open 60 PRB. He won the Vendée Globe and a ticket into the 60ft trimaran class with his latest sponsor Geant, the French supermarket chain.
Groupama Comes in 3rd-What A Race
Click to Enlarge & View Page 24 of our Transat Picture Galley
Franck Cammas on Groupama crossed the line at 03h 16m 02secs GMT, making his elapsed time for the course 8 days 14 hours 16 minutes 2 second.
The next 60ft multi on the horizon is Alain Gautier on board Foncia currently in 4th with 221 miles to go to Boston – his nearest rival is lone female competitor Karine Fauconnier on Sergio Tacchini. Gautier started the race a few hours late and in the first major depression broke 4 mainsail battens….
The next 60ft multi on the horizon is Alain Gautier on board Foncia currently in 4th with 221 miles to go to Boston – his nearest rival is lone female competitor Karine Fauconnier on Sergio Tacchini. Gautier started the race a few hours late and in the first major depression broke 4 mainsail battens….
Sailing faster average speeds than Pindar AlphaGraphics, Mike Golding on Ecover has managed to eek out a 23 mile lead on Mike Sanderson – the furthest distance apart these two boats have been for a long while…
American skipper Kip stone sailing the new Merfyn Owen designed 50ft monohull has retaken the lead ahead of Joe Harris albeit by 2.3 miles this morning… Go Kip Go and yes, you may have guessed I liked this guy and his boat, when we met in Plymouth and am rooting for him.
Nick Moloney on Skandia has pulled out a 14 mile lead of Conrad Humphreys this morning and moves into 4th place in the Open 60 class. The sparring battle between these two skippers is far from over with 980 miles to go to the finish…
MICHEL DESJOYEAUX’S RACE:
31.5.04: Second across the start line and first ORMA 60 to reach the Eddystone Lighthouse – awarded Omega Seamaster watch.
1.6.04: First big low pressures approaches: “I’m too old to take all these waves!”
2.6.04: 0500GMT Geant takes the lead. Extreme close racing with Sodebo (Thomas Coville) only 200m apart at times through the night. Picks up speed in 35 knots, reaching conditions: “These are good winds for us. It is what the boats are designed for.” Michel Desjoyeaux/Geant current holder of Omega 24hr speed record 440 miles recorded between 0500-0500 GMT.
3.6.04: Head for centre of first major low pressure system and tacks south out of the low at approx 2030 GMT.
4.6.04: Reports 44 knot winds and 5-6m seas during the night. Claimed to have slept all night and allowing the automatic pilots to steer the boat. ORMA skippers agree to self-imposed ice waypoint 47 N 47 W.
5.6.04: Heads straight for Flemish Cap – closest ORMA to ice waypoint.
7.6.04: 150 mile spread between Geant, Sodebo and Groupama and his lead seems unassailable.
8.6.04: Reports fast and flat sailing conditions in early morning and has a 64 mile lead over Sodebo at 0500 GMT. Geant slowed by lighter airs – only makes 9 miles in two hours – and Sodebo closes down lead to 26.6 miles at 1700 GMT poll with 81 miles to the finish.
MICHEL DESJOYEAUX PROFILE:
Date of birth: 16/07/1965 (age 38)
Nationality: French
Place of birth: Concarneau
Current residence: La Foret Fouesnant
Personal status: 3 children
Previous participation in The Transat 2000 / 7th Class 1 Monohull
Mini profile:
Winner of the 2000/2001 Vendée Globe, the Solitaire du Figaro on two occasions (1992 and 1998) and the 2002 Route du Rhum, Desjoyeaux is the one of most successful single-handed offshore racers taking part in The Transat.
Desjoyeaux heralds from Port la Foret, la vallee des fous (valley of the mad) as it is known because of it being the Mecca of solo offshore racing. At 20, Desjoyeaux cut his teeth racing with Eric Tabarly on the maxi Cote d’Or in the Whitbread Round the World Race. Like the great French skipper, Desjoyeaux shares a passion for innovation. Equally, he openly shares his ideas and has been responsible for the advancement of many Figaro rookies earning himself the nickname ‘Le Professeur’ (the teacher).
Desjoyeaux’s sailing CV is impossibly long. He has been racing large multihull’s competitively since the mid-1980s and on many of the trimarans during the 1990s starting with a win in the TwoSTAR with Jean Maurel in 1990. It was in the late 1990s that Desjoyeaux graduated up from the Figaro class with his new Open 60 PRB. He won the Vendée Globe and a ticket into the 60ft trimaran class with his latest sponsor Geant, the French supermarket chain.
