Death of Jean-Pierre Champion, face of French sailing for 20 years

Jean-Pierre Champion, former president of the FFVoile

Jean-Pierre Champion, who was at the head of the FFVoile for almost 20 years, passed away on November 7, 2021. Portrait of the man who represented French sailing and sailed at a high level.

Dinghy sailing

Jean-Pierre Champion, died on November 7, 2021, at the age of 73 years of cancer. A figure of French sailing, he was president of the FFVoile from 1996 to 2017.

Born in Pas de Calais in 1948, he discovered sailing in the Mediterranean, in Vaurien and then in 420. Passionate about dinghies, he quickly developed his sailing talents through training courses at Les Glénans, the UCPA and then the National Sailing School (ENV) to become an instructor. He continued his training in regattas until he reached the French 470 B team.

A career within the French Sailing Federation

At 28, he was elected president of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais Sailing League. He is interested in institutions and wants to modernize them. He submits and passes the change of name from French Sailing Federation to French Sailing Federation, to help democratize sailing.

Although he practices light sailing, he is also interested in ocean racing. Under the presidency of Jean-Louis Monneron, he is in charge of a mission to bring together the offshore racing federation and the FFVoile, and to put an end to the opposition "light sailing / house sailing".

In 1996, he was elected president of the FFVoile. He will hold the position for 5 mandates until 2017. He was one of the architects of the federation's partnership with Banque Populaire. He was also very involved in the international sailing federation, World Sailing. Resident of Cannes, he took the presidency of the Cannes Yacht Club in 2019 to get involved in the life of a body of water where he continued to sail.

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