Offshore runner and entrepreneur
Yannick Bestaven has been sailing since his early childhood. After studying engineering, he took part in his first ocean race. In 2001, he took the start of the Mini Transat, on a boat that he built with his own hands and even boasts of winning the course? !
In 2008, he took the start of his first Vendée Globe in the IMOCA Aquitaine Innovation on loan from his friend Yves Parlier, but dismasted in the Bay of Biscay. " It was a big failure, which I had a hard time digesting." He then stopped ocean racing to devote himself to his business project, by creating the Watt&Sea hydrogenerator company.
Back to sailing in Class40
Little by little, he relaunched his Class40 project and won the Transat Jacques Vabre in 2011 and again in 2015. " It gave me back the ocean-racing bug and the motivation."
Having sailed around in Class40, Yannick decided to buy Tanguy Delamotte's former IMOCA boat, a 2006 Farr design with which he will take part in the Route du Rhum 2018. But it was finally Maître Coq who enabled him to take the start of this Vendée Globe 2020.
"The great story has been built up over time, with a change of boat (Editor's note: former Morgan Lagravière's Frenchman for the 2016 Vendée Globe), which is moreover a foiler, a close-knit team in collaboration with Biloup"
A return to the Vendée Globe 12 years on
Twelve years after his first attempt, Yannick Bestaven will therefore be lining up at the start of the Vendée Globe alongside 32 other competitors.
"It's a bit of an Everest for us solo ocean racers. The idea of setting off again has always been on my mind, provided I have all the conditions in place. Today I have a great project, a great boat and a great partner. It's been a long time coming, but I'm happy to have it all."
Although his first experience is already a long way off and the boats have evolved a lot since then, Yannick has the advantage of having several single-handed races under his belt and above all having sailed a lot on his boat.
"I plan to enjoy the adventure experience, have a great race and have a lot of fun, live a great story and share it with everyone. I hope to be able to do the tour in the best possible conditions. I won't be playing the leading roles but I hope I won't be too far behind to grab the best place in the final standings. I'm going to do a Vendée Globe in my own image, intelligent and clean. My objectif?? Finishing is already a fine goal when you know that one boat out of two finishes the race. I'd also like to finish in the top five. I wasn't too far off in the Arctic Vendée even if my boat has less potential than the last foilers. The Vendée Globe is a marathon and by sailing intelligently, attacking and thinking, even over the length, you can make the difference."
A big work of reliability on Maître Coq
His boat Maître Coq has changed little since its last version. The main focus of the shipyard has been on reliability. "We've changed the set of sails, the electronics, the electricity... The life cell is better protected. We've tried to make these uncomfortable boats a little more comfortable by working on ergonomics."
Maître Coq was the first boat of the older generation to be equipped with foils. Today, it is a well-proven and reliable boat. "It's a great force to attack a race like this. I'm certainly coming back with more maturity and experience than I had in 2008, and I've got a great mental strength to not give up."
Despite a pre-season disrupted by the Covid crisis, Yannick feels confident for the start. "We're not the team that's sailed the least, even if it has diminished our preparation at sea."
His pronostic??
"I wouldn't make any prognosis. It's so open, there's so much that can happen. We'll see what happens."
