What is your first memory at mer??
My parents' friends had lent them a wooden boat 15 or 18 metres long. It was in Hyères and we had sailed around Porquerolles and Port-Cros. There was a lot of wind, it was quite far away and it was the first time I saw the sea. I was 7 or 8 years old.
We had been sailing for a long time, but on a lake ( Editor's note: Bernard Stamm is Swiss ). We didn't see the horizon as we do at sea.
What triggered you to launch yourself into this carrière??
I wanted to travel and discover the sea. The high seas. So I left the world of sailing and regattas to work on merchant navy cargo ships. I did my experiment and then I was able to return to sailing. I knew the sea better and I already knew how to race.
Have you had a mentor or another skipper, who has marqué? for you?
I don't think so. There are several skippers who have made their mark on me and have had an admirable career, but I didn't want to follow their example. I rather did things by myself, without copying. I followed my own path.
However, I am thinking of Laurent Bourgnon. It was the beginning of multihulls, it wasn't very common. I see him again on his trimaran, sailing on a float. He seemed to be running it like something normal.
Which boat left you the best souvenir??
I would say the one I built, Super Bigou, a 60-foot (18 m) monohull. I won two round the world races with it. And for building it myself, it was the most beautiful reward.
We have lots of good memories with all the boats and inevitably some bad ones. But when you win races, it's a reward for the work you do.
What is your greatest success with marin??
The Atlantic Record in 2001 with Super Bigou ( Editor's note: 8 days 20 hours 20 hours 55 minutes and 35 seconds at sea, beating the previous record of 3 hours 2'42""https://media.bateaux.com/bateaux/29968/souvenirs-iodes-bernard-stamm-2.jpg"540"https://media.bateaux.com/bateaux/29968/souvenirs-iodes-bernard-stamm-3.jpg"382"374">
Sailing Tower
Portrait
Bernard Stamm was born in Geneva, on the shores of Lake Geneva. If he sails regularly on the lake, with his family, on board a small 5.5-metre sailboat, he will only discover the sea late. As a young adult, he joined the Swiss-Atlantic Company for four years - two of which he spent without ever landing on land - to discover the world's oceans.
In 1988, he returned to Switzerland and worked in a shipyard near Lausanne. At the same time, he discovered the regatta - on his lake - on board a sailboat lent by a client. And then, click, he decides to give up everything for Bretagne?!
He then made deliveries and became skipper of a multihull cruise ship with which he covered more than 30?000 miles in one year.
In 1994, he built his Mini to participate in the 1995 mini-transat. This prototype designed by Pierre Rolland is a marvel and Bernard Stamm wins the podium at each race.
At the beginning of 1997, he started building a 60-foot monohull - Super Bigou - according to Pierre Roland's plans. The boat was launched in 2000.
Forced to abandon the 2000 Vendée Globe for damage, he nevertheless won the Atlantic Record the same year. He will be on the IMOCA circuit until 2008-2009.
This will not prevent him from participating in the Jules Verne Trophy with Bruno Peyron on Orange 2 in 2004.
After a 2009 year in 40 feet on the Route du Chocolat with Bruno Jourdren, a 2010 year in Figaro[AG2R in double with Gildas Mahé and Solitaire du Figaro] and in 40 feet on the Route du Rhum, Bernard will be back in 60 feet in 2011. He was seen in the Barcelona World Race in 2015-2016 and sailed alongside Francis Joyon on Idec Sport for the Jule Verne Trophy in 2017.
In recent years, he has also participated in the Tour Voile with his historical sponsor Poujoulat.
