Hello, everybody, I'm Louis Burton, I'm 34 years old. I am the skipper of the Bureau Vallée boat since 2010. In 2010, I experienced my first transatlantic race in Class 40 for the Route du Rhum. We were 45 boats at the start. I was 7th in the fleet at the Azores mid-transat.
I had a collision with a fishing boat that was in the southern Azores when I was on my way down to the finish in Guadeloupe. During this collision, I had a lot of
damage: I had the bowsprit ripped off, a torn spinnaker, the boom broken in half. It forced me to make huge repairs to be able to continue on my way.
I managed to make it as far as Guadeloupe in 25th place despite the damage, and in Guadeloupe, when you arrive, you have to go through the North and you approach a rock called the Tête à l'Anglais. At that moment, I saw a semi-rigid boat coming out of the beaches behind the rock with my family, my godmother and all my best friends who had come all the way around Guadeloupe to welcome me.
I went all the way down the Basse-Terre to the Canal des Saintes accompanied by this boat. It was just them and me at that moment and again in the moments that followed to the finish line, I understood that I wouldn't want to leave my place to someone else for anything in the world.
I understood at that moment that I wanted to make this sport and these adventures my profession. I am delighted, thanks to my family and friends and my sponsor Bureau Vallée, to have been able to make this dream come true, and to have been living this dream for ten years now.
