Loïck Peyron

Loïck Peyron is making his big comeback as skipper of a brand-new monohull: Gitana Eighty. In the upcoming edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre, his aim is to validate his boat's technical innovations… and of course to win.

Loïck Peyron cut his sailing teeth aboard a cruiser in La Baule bay, before making his first Atlantic crossing in the Mini-Transat at the age of 18 in a 6.50-m boat. From then on, he ceaselessly honed his solo sailing skills in Figaros or multihulls, as well as serving as a crew member from Formula 40 through to match racing.

At the helm of Lada Poch in the 1989-90 Vendée Globe, the skipper ceded victory to Titouan Lamazou after having helped Philipe Poupon's stricken monohull in the ocean off South Africa. Subsequently, he began to string successes together onboard Fujicolor II and Fujifilm, including two victories in the English Transat and the Europe 1 Star, and four Course de l'Europe triumphs. He also became nigh on untouchable in the Orma circuit Grand Prix, but after being absent from the 2000 circuit primarily to take part in The Race, Loïck Peyron was then traumatised by the loss of his trimaran, pulverised by a demented sea during the 2002 Route du Rhum. He reverted to the monohull with Jean-Pierre Dick, winning the 2005 edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre.

Almost forty transatlantic races later and armed with a breathtaking honours list, Loïck Peyron's passion for boats, big and small remains undimmed. Whether working alongside an architect or engineer, in a boatyard or at the helm on the open sea, this man who numbers among France's all-time sailing greats is always hungry for discovery. What's more, he transmits this great enthusiasm to the Gitana Team, which he has led since the start of 2006. A man motivated by challenges, Loïck Peyron currently wears two hats: that of Gitana Team manager and that of skipper. His appetite for performance and adventure are sure to make him one of the key figures in the 2008-09 Vendée Globe.

Although Loïck Peyron, accompanied by Jean-Baptiste Le Vaillant, will be primarily competing in the next Transat Jacques Vabres in order to test the new boat, you can be sure that this born winner at the helm of Gitana Eighty will countenance but one objective on what is the ultimate sailing course: victory.

An exceptional sailing track record

Lionel Lemonchois

Not so long ago, the top skippers were all scrambling to have Lionel Lemonchois among their crew. These days, they doubtless feel some apprehension at seeing him start an ocean race at the helm of Gitana 11, as since his stunning triumph in the Route du Rhum, they all know the fiendish pace which this exceptional sailor is capable of setting. For the man himself though, each race means starting from scratch and embracing a new challenge wholeheartedly...

As a sailor on his uncle's barge collecting wrecks for scrap, Lionel Lemonchois learned how to dive before he could swim. In later years, he worked as a diver in the Caribbean in search of rare and precious shellfish, after which this quiet and laid-back native of Normandy opted for a career on the water's surface. On his own behalf or that of others, solo or as part of a crew, Lionel has always sailed, from his fledgling forays as a young boy on his father's boat to his first Atlantic crossing at the age of 18 with some friends, not to mention his season in Polynesia on board a Formula 40. He started out on Maxi-yachts alongside Yves Pajot, Pierre English and Halvard Mabire, before moving on to multihulls with François Boucher. But the urge to compete in his own right was too strong and, in 1989, he had a go at the Mini Transat on a boat he built himself that was only launched 15 days before the start. To this day, that race remains one of his finest sailing memories. What's more, he is one of only a handful of sailors to have taken part in this event four times and still hopes to do it again one day. The same goes for the Figaro, a circuit to which he has remained loyal, with his victory in the Transat AG2R alongside Karine Fauconnier in 2000, then his second place with Dominic Vittet in 2006. He is better acquainted than most with sailors of the fairer sex, having meticulously prepared PRB then Whirlpool, sailed with their skippers Isabelle Autissier and Catherine Chabaud and dreamed of the Vendée Globe. Eventually however, it was the multihull circuit that captured him. After two seasons on the Orma and The Race circuits onboard Team Adventure, he was headhunted in 2001 to take over the helm of Gitana X, Baron Benjamin de Rothschild's new trimaran. After two seasons with the Gitana Team, he departed for horizons new in the shape of the Jules Verne Trophy with Bruno Peyron, the Transat Jacques Vabre with Pascal Bidégorry, the London-Nice race with Franck Cammas, the Transat AG2R with Dominic Vittet, Cannes-Istanbul with Bertrand de Broc.

In July 2006, Lionel finally joined the Gitana Team when Baron Benjamin de Rothschild asked him to take up the helm of Gitana 11 in the Route du Rhum. Quietly confident, he lined up at the start and… 7 days 17 hours and 6 seconds later, on 6 November 2006, crossed the finish line in Guadeloupe, shattering the old record held by Laurent Bourgnon since 1998! For Lemonchois, for the boat's owner and for the Gitana Team as a whole, it was the ultimate triumph. Since then, this sensational skipper has committed himself to the Gitana Team full time by taking charge of Gitana 13, the team's maxi-catamaran, as well as Gitana 11, on whom the Route de Rhum success was secured.

Lionel Lemonchois was a winner in the last Transat Jacques Vabre with Pascal Bidégorry and has since triumphed in the Route du Rhum. Consequently, Gitana 11, Lionel Lemonchois and his co-skipper Yann Guichard start as favourites for the first time in the Transat Jacques Vabre 2007.

Sailing honours

Sailing honours