Transat Jacques Vabre, the duo Lionel Lemonchois and Roland Jourdain on the trimaran Prince de Bretagne

Chloé Torterat Published on October 23, 2015

The skippers

Lionel Lemonchois began sailing on his family's monohull, but quickly moved on to multihulls in 1985. Since then, he has never stopped sailing. This is how he managed to make himself known enough to become a crew member of the best skippers: Karine Fauconnier, Pascal Bidégorry, Bruno Peyron or Franck Cammas.

Over the years, Lionel Lemonchois has sailed in small one-designs, double-handed, and large multihulls with a crew. He lets himself be carried along according to his desires and affinities.

Lionel Lemonchois - credit: Christophe Breschi

But it is in solo sailing that he has made history, as with his masterful victory in the Route du Rhum âeuros La Banque Postale in 2006 at the helm of Gitana 11 in just 7 days 17 hrs 19 min and 6 seconds. Already known to the great skippers, it was at this point that the general public discovered him. He was elected "Sailor of the Year" by the jury of the French Sailing Federation, which includes several journalists. Four years later, in 2010, he did it again by winning the competition in the Multi50 category, at the helm of Prince de Bretagne.

In 2014, he took on a new challenge aboard the Ultime Prince de Bretagne to attempt a triple in the Route du Rhum, but finished in 4th place ^e place. Today, he is embarking on the Transat Jacques Vabre to take pleasure in sailing his trimaran and why not play in the big league

Roland Jourdain is one of the most popular sailors with an exceptional track record: since his third place in the Whitbread race alongside Eric Tabarly in 1985, the man nicknamed "Bilou" has racked up success after success, including victories in the Course de l'Europe (in 1991 and 1993), the Transat AG2R (in 1994), the Transat Jacques Vabre (1995 and 2001), the Calais Round Britain Race (in 2005), in the Fastnet Race (in 2011) or in the mythical Route du Rhum (in 2006 and 2010), but also world championship titles, in Formula 40 (in 1989) then in IMOCA (in 2001 and 2002), or even records such as Cowes âeuros Dinard, Los Angeles âeuros Honolulu and Newport âeuros Les Bermudes (in 2015)

Roland Jourdain - credit: Christophe Breschi

He also won numerous podiums in the Transat AG2R (1992), Solitaire du Figaro (1994), Transat Jacques Vabre (2003 and 2005), Record SNSM (2006), but we will remember above all his very fine 3rd place finish in the Transat AG2R ^e place in the Vendée Globe in 2000-2001.

But what makes the Breton sailor so remarkable is not only his performance, but above all his human qualities. Lionel Lemonchois can count on the experience of Roland Jourdain's seven participations in the Route du Café, but also acquired during his numerous transatlantic races.

The boat

Prince de Bretagne - credit : Marcel Mochet

Technical specifications