Change of helm!
Isabelle Joschke, who raced under Monin's colours on the Route du Rhum, has been chosen by MACSF - which is making a comeback on the circuit after having sponsored Bertrand de Broc in 2016 - for the next Vendée Globe 2020 campaign.
Vincent Riou will not be part of the next solo round the world race - it would have been his 5th participation - leaving the PRB helm - recently equipped with foils - at Kevin Escoffier . Winner of the last Volvo Ocean Race with Dongfeng, head of the Banque Populaire team's design office, this crew specialist will discover solitude.
Search for sponsors...
Paul Meilhat and Yann Eliès are also looking for sponsors for the next Vendée Globe 2020. Both of them were doing their last race on their respective IMOCAs - SMA for the first and UCAR-StMichel for the second (on loan from Jean-Pierre Dick) and finished in style. Victory and second place?!
UCAR-StMichel has been put up for sale and is waiting for its new owner.
Rumours...
It is rumoured that the IMOCA SMA rented until 2021 from Mer Agitée, Michel Desjoyeaux's team, in preparation for the 2020 Vendée Globe, will soon be put in the colours of Banque Populaire. And the skipper will be none other than the talented Clarisse Crémer, discovered on the Mini Transat 2016?! However, it will be necessary to wait until 22 January, the date of the press conference of the Banque de la Voile, for official confirmation.
Last September, Morgan Lagravière and Roland Jourdain, who had bought the IMOCA "Des Voiles et Vous" (ex-Safran), put it back on sale. It was reportedly rented by Japanese skipper Kojiro Shiraishi, whose boat is under construction, to train.
Finally, the former Hugo Boss is making headlines at lui?! There are many candidates for the acquisition of Alex Thomson's black IMOCA. If Stéphane Le Diraison had positioned himself to buy it, another rumour indicated that Yannick Bestaven (Master Coq) would be the lucky one... The former Master Coq would therefore be looking for a new skipper..
Another rumour, another source, Hugo Boss is in the process of being bought by the Dutchman Hans Bouscholte, who would like to have him crewed on The Ocean Race (ex-Volvo Ocean Race).
In conclusion, well before the era of contemporary cartography, we know the shape and size of the earth. It remains to be discovered and mapped the emerged lands. It will take many centuries of navigation and discovery to accurately establish a modern map.
There are many projects and the IMOCA class arouses every desire! Nothing is fixed yet and things are moving fast so we will do our best to keep you informed!
