21.01.2010 8:36

Michel Desjoyeaux has announced that is signing up for the BarcelonaWorld Race 2010/11 with Team Foncia. The French yachtsman will beginthe build of a brand new VPLP/Verdier design to be built in the CDKshipyard.

Following an extraordinary 2009 campaign, with Desjoyeaux winning the Vendée Globe and the Istanbul Europa Race with Foncia, this great French sailor has now announced that he is extending his relationship with sponsor Foncia until 2014. The initial phase of the Team Foncia campaign will be undertaken with a brand new IMOCA Open 60, designed by the VPLP and Guillaume Verdier studio, with construction kicking off almost immediately at the CDK shipyard in Port-la-Fôret, France. Michel will be competing in the famous Route du Rhum with the new boat, the solo race from Saint Malo to Guadalupe in the Antilles, due to set off on 31st of October this year. Then, on 31st of December Michel Desjoyeaux will be on the starting line of the Barcelona World Race. Once the double-handed around the world challenge is over, Michel and Team Foncia plan to prepare a multihull project for the new Multi One Design circuit.

Yves Gevin, Presidente of the FONCIA Group expressed his unwavering support for Michel and the new projects: “Michel has really pleased us with his exceptional campaign, with a series of magnificent victories. How can we go further? By launching brand new ambitious and innovative projects”.
Le professeur, the nickname by which Desjoyeaux is known in the ocean sailing world, sees the double-handed race around the world as a challenge that ties in with the philosophy behind the new programme. On the tough call to face the Barcelona World Race, just weeks after completing the Route du Rhum, the Breton sailor reveals that he is not intimidated, in fact, quite the contrary. “The programme is intense, but it's great that we continue to create new challenges, to challenge ourselves, without doubting. This isn't something that bother’s me, in fact I’d say it motivates me even more. These new possibilities make me very happy”.

Desjoyeaux’s Team Foncia will ship the boat to Barcelona on a cargo ship after the Route du Rhum. According to the French sailor, this is a very beneficial move: "During the transport the shore crew will be able to get the boat race-ready so that when it gets to Barcelona in early December 2010 it will be in perfect condition for the race".

Michel Desjoyeaux incorporation into the Barcelona World Race is great news for the race, due to start on the 31st of December this year. Upon hearing the good news, Pere Alcober, President of the Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona, organisers of the Barcelona World Race, said: “This news is the best reward for everyone in the race organising team, for the city and for everyone who is working towards improving sport in Spain. The Barcelona World Race attracts the best skippers in the world and it raises the profile of the race as a top level international sporting event”.

The most successful ocean sailor in history

Frenchman Michel Desjoyeaux is the only sailor in history to have won the Vendée Globe twice and he is also the most successful ocean sailor with the most wins in solo and double-handed racing, meaning that he is a walking legend in ocean sailing around the world. Among his most distinguished wins are a victory in the Twostar of 1990, forming a two-man crew with Jean Maurel on a Trimaran; the Transat AG2R in 1992, with Jacques Caraës, in the Figaro class; the Trophée des Multicoques with Fujicolor, in 1993; the Vendée Globe 2001/02; the Route du Rhum 2002 and the The Transat 2004 with Trimaran Géant. The 2007 to 2009 campaign with IMOCA Open 60 Foncia has been the most spectacular ever achieved in ocean sailing: victory in the 2007 Transat Jaques Vabre, the Vendée Golbe 2008/09 and the Istanbul Europa Race 2009.