Kojiro Shiraishi (Spirit of Yukoh)
At 49 years old, Kojiro Shiraishi is the first Asian sailor to participate in the Vendée Globe. An important step in the internationalization of the race. The name of the boat âeuros Spirit of Yuko âeuros is a tribute to his mentor, Yukoh Tada, a legend in Asian ocean racing: sailor, saxophonist and Buddhist, winner of the BOC Challenge in his category in 1983. He had taken the young Kojiro under his wing. Alas, the legend says that the multiple problems encountered in the construction of the 50 feet Koden VIII for the BOC Challenge were not extraneous to Yukoh's suicide, which occurred in 1991. Kojiro Shiraishi was then Yukoh Tada's "disciple" and the pillar of his team.
At the age of 26, Kojiro became the youngest sailor to complete a solo circumnavigation. It is also in the memory of Yukoh Tada that he will be noticed on Around Alone in 2002, and especially on the Velux 5 Oceans, the round the world race with stopovers, in 2006. Aboard an IMOCA boat already named Spirit of Yukoh, he completed the round-the-world race once again, in 118 days, and finished 2nd behind a certain Bernard Stamm. We also saw him sailing for a few years in the crews of Bruno Peyron's or Lionel Lemonchois' big multihulls, in search of the Pacific Record. He is now preparing to embark on the solo round the world race, but he does not intend to be a figurehead, as he showed by finishing 7th in the world ranking e of the Transat New York/Vendée.
Sébastien Destremeau (TechnoFirst âeuros faceOcean)
An experienced sailor, but also a sports journalist, Sébastien Destremau has already climbed three major sailing summits since he has prepared for the Olympics, taken part in several campaigns for the America's Cup and participated in the Volvo Ocean Race, the crewed round-the-world race with stopovers. Commentator for a major television channel at the start of the Vendée Globe 2012-2013, the Toulon native decided that he would be part of the 2016 edition.
His efforts were rewarded with the purchase of an IMOCA 60' in the spring of 2015. At 52 years old and for his first participation, he is at the head of one of the smallest budgets in the Vendée Globe fleet. Sébastien wanted to keep things simple, cheap and efficient. Since acquiring his boat, he has sailed 18,000 miles on board, the equivalent of two thirds of a Vendée Globe. Without any solo experience, he won the Calero Solo Transat last spring ahead of two other Vendée Globe contenders, Pieter Heerema and Alan Roura.
Stéphane Le Diraison (Compagnie du Lit âeuros Boulogne Billancourt)
At the age of 40, Stéphane Le Diraison will be tackling his first Vendée Globe, even though he is used to solo sailing. This Breton, who has been sailing since before he could walk, will see his career take off when he moves to the Paris region. At the end of college, Stéphane refurbished a six-meter boat and sailed solo on it. Spain, Portugal, Canary Islands, Balearic Islands: he logged miles and gained experience on different types of boats, always alone on board.
At the same time, he sailed with a crew, especially in Class 8, and his neighbors on the pontoons - Alain Gautier, winner of the 1992-1993 Vendée Globe, and Jean-Luc Van Den âeuros - instilled in him a passion for single-handed round-the-world racing. It will be his life's project. He climbed the steps one by one: Mini Transat, in a production boat in 2007, then in a prototype two years later, Class 40 circuit in 2010 (4 e of the Route du Rhum in 2014 despite a torn sail) and finally IMOCA with the Vendée Globe.
Peter Heerema (No way back)
A passionate spectator of the Vendée Globe for many years, Pieter Heerema will be one of the nine foreign skippers at the start of this 8th edition. This 65-year-old Dutch businessman, a seasoned sailor, specializes in offshore sailing. It was during an exchange with Michel Desjoyeaux during a Dragon competition in the spring of 2015, that his desire for offshore sailing took shape. Since then, the Dutch sailor has not stopped logging miles on board No Way Back to be ready on November 6, 2016, for his first participation.
Peter Heerema has always sailed whenever his career allowed him to and has a real sailing career behind him in inshore competition and family cruising all over the world: 470, Yngling, J 22 and J 24, and since the 90's, he has spent a lot of time with a crew on two well known racing boats: the Dragon and the RC 44. For his solo sailing, he bought a brand new boat, and then surrounded himself with great professionals from the world of ocean racing like Antoine Mermod and his team. Pieter gained confidence by completing two solo transatlantic races in 2016, aboard his IMOCA60.
Romain Attanasio (Famille Mary Etamine du Lys)
This will be the 1st re participation of the 39-year-old skipper, even though he has lived through two Vendée Globe races by proxy, since he is married to Samantha Davies. Nothing predestined him for sailing, as he was born into a family of high-level skiers. However, it was during family sailing trips in the Morbihan that he sailed on the small family cruiser and caught the sailing bug. As a teenager, he became passionate about ocean racing and started sailing dinghies and lasers, which allowed him to discover a real talent for racing.
He then moved on to the Mini 6.50, but his participation in 1999 was frightening as he capsized. He continued with 10 seasons in Figaro (La Solitaire, Transat AG2R), sailing on Orma trimarans, Transat Jacques Vabre in 2015 which pushed him towards the Vendée Globe. On this human-sized project, he will be supported by his partner.
Enda O'Coineen (Kilcullen Team Ireland)
The 61 year old businessman/sailor will be the first Irishman to start the Vendée Globe. This adventurer has made a name for himself in business, but is also one of the founders of Afloat, Irelandâ??s famous sailing magazine. In his youth, he crossed the Atlantic on an inflatable boat, just to prove to his boss - who manufactured these rafts that were not yet called RIBs - that it was possible. He is also the creator of the Atlantic Youth Trust, a program of education by the sea that embarks hundreds of young people each year on large classic yachtsâeuros¦ In 2015, Enda O'Coineen again amazed his world by reaching the podium of the Transat Saint Barth'/Port-La-Forêt, in IMOCA. It must be said that the Irishman is also a very good sailor who has sailed a lot, especially in one-designs and on Maxis.
It was he who was behind the Irish project on the Whitbread, the crewed round-the-world race, back in 1987. He was also one of the great animators of the Green Dragon project in the Volvo Ocean Race, twenty years later. He also gave of his time and energy to ensure that Galway, his home town in Connemara, would host the arrival of the Volvo. His goal? To complete his first solo round-the-world race, non-stop and without assistance.
Conrad Colman (100% Natural Energy)
This 32 year old skipper is the first New Zealander to participate in the Vendée Globe. Born into a family of sailing enthusiasts, he spent his first year of life on a sailboat. At the age of 15, he moved to the United States and put aside sailing. Tired of staying dry, he returned to sailing and disembarked in England with the idea of taking the start of the Vendée Globe.
He became the trainer of the British sailor Steve White who participated in the 2008-2009 edition. At the end of 2008, he moved to Lorient and discovered single-handed offshore sailing through the Mini-Transat, which he completed in 2009. Route du Rhum in class40, Global Ocean Race (double-handed round the world race with stopovers), Barcelona World Race (double-handed round the world race in IMOCA) with Nandor Fa punctuate his career.
