Forty boats will set off from the Vendée Globe on Sunday, November 10, for a solo, unassisted and non-stop around the world trip. Yannick Bestaven, 51 years old, title holder, will be part of the adventure on his new machine, Master-Cock V. During the previous edition, the victorious crossing could have been cut short. After three weeks of sailing, the watermaker on his Imoca broke down. However, it is possible to travel around the world in eighty days, but not without drinking water.
A civil engineer by training, a graduate of the State's National School of Public Works, the sailor repairs the boat's electric pump. “Something I’ve never done before.” » Boats, to be ever faster, are increasingly technological, with ever more onboard computing, artificial intelligence, fiber optic lines to measure the deformation of the foils (water wings). “You have to know how to manage everything”underlines Yannick Bestaven.
More and more skippers are going through engineering schools before embarking on ocean racing. Armel Le Cléac'h, winner of the 2016-2017 Vendée Globe, is, at 47 years old, a young graduate of the National Institute of Applied Sciences (INSA) in Rennes. In fact, in 2024, thanks to the system of validation of acquired experience, he completed his engineering diploma begun in… 1998. That year, he entered the school's sports excellence sector and had benefited from a schedule arranged to pursue at the same time a career as a skipper which was just beginning.
“I ticked all the boxes”
In 2000, he joined the professional circuit and left the establishment without completing his course. Two years later, the INSA network integrated into its ranks another sailing enthusiast, François Gabart, who earned his title of engineer in mechanical engineering and development in 2007 on the Lyon campus. Five years later, the young sailor won, at the age of 29, the 2012-2013 edition of the Vendée Globe: he beat Armel Le Cléac'h by three hours during a race which lasted more than seventy-eight days. INSA achieves a double.
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Before facing the roaring forties, when making his choice of direction, Armel Le Cléac'h did not envision himself at the helm of a Formula 1 of the seas. “I saw myself in an architectural office, working on the design of boats. Attending this engineering school was the assurance of pursuing a profession linked to my passion, sailing. »
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