Guillemot goes monohull

Former Biscuits la Trinitaine skipper to sail Ellen's former Kingfisher in Route du Rhum

After racing multihulls for more than ten years, former Biscuils la Trinitaine skipper Marc Guillemot will be at the helm of the Safran Open 60 on 29 October for the start of the legendary Route du Rhum - La Banque Postale transatlantic race from St Malo to Guadeloupe. With just over two weeks left until the start, the well-known skipper from Brittany is stepping up his solo training runs and completing final adjustments and tests.

A return to monohulls

“My last real experience with ocean monohulls was back in 1994, when I sailed with Eric Tabarly on the La Poste maxi-yacht for a crewed race around the world,” recalls Marc Guillemot. “Thanks to the Vendée Globe, a new generation of monohull boats is now appearing. As the saying goes, ‘that’s where it’s at’ right now in ocean racing!”

While his new boat - a design by Van Peteghem Lauriot Prevost and new hotshot architect Guillaume Verdier is under construction, so Guillemot will be taking to the start line on none other than Ellen MacArthur's Kingfisher, the boat which won the Open 60 IMOCA class in the Route du Rhum four years ago.

At present the entire Safran Sailing Team is busy with the myriad of final adjustments and finishing touches. “We have a little work to do to improve the boat's solo sailing characteristics,” explains Guillemot. “I spent three days last week training at Bénodet, allowing me to draw up a list of the final points to check.” He will still be making a few more runs from his home port of La Trinité-sur-Mer to check these final adjustments, before the team heads for Saint-Malo.

Marc Guillemot will leave his home port on Tuesday, October 17, or Wednesday, October 18, depending on weather conditions, and is due to be in Saint-Malo by 12 noon on Friday, October 20.

HIs sponsor, Safran, is an international high-technology group with four core businesses: aerospace propulsion, aircraft equipment, defense security, communications. It has 60 000 employees in over 30 countries, and annual revenues exceeding 10 billion euros. SAFRAN comprises a number of companies with prestigious brand names, and holds, alone or in partnership, global or European leadership positions in all of its markets.