Olivier de Kersauson de Pennendreff (born 20 July 1944) is a French sailor and sailing champion. Kersauson was the seventh child in a family of eight. While he was the only Kersauson not to have been born in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

, he was born on 20 July 1944 and brought up near

Morlaix Morlaix (; br, Montroulez) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Leisure and tourism The old quarter of the town has winding streets of cobbled stones and overha ...

in a “provincial Catholic aristocracy with compulsory mass” as he calls it. Very early on, Olivier de Kersauson was to break away from his family. Without being inattentive, he was a pupil who did not settle in well to school life with the priests at boarding school. He passed through eleven schools altogether. After his final school exams and getting up to a lot of things, always on the coast, he began studying economics. At the age of twenty-two, he met

Eric Tabarly The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

Saint Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...

. Shortly after, Eric invited him to do his military service on board. This opportunity stretched into eight years during which he was Tabarly’s mate. In 1973-74, he was a crewmember on the yacht Pen Duick VI in the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race. Together, they put on their boots and waterproofs, swallowing up the miles aboard the ''

Pen Duick ''Pen Duick'' is the name best known for a series of ocean racing yachts sailed by French yachtsman Eric Tabarly. Meaning coal tit in Breton it was the name Tabarly's father gave to the 1898 Fife gaff cutter he purchased, and that his son learned ...

s''. Very quickly, Olivier de Kersauson developed a passion for

multihull A multihull is a boat or ship with more than one hull, whereas a vessel with a single hull is a monohull. The most common multihulls are catamarans (with two hulls), and trimarans (with three hulls). There are other types, with four or more h ...

s in which he became a pioneer. He was, in particular, the first to build a multihull of composite material, '' Ribourel'', then a

trimaran A trimaran (or double-outrigger) is a multihull boat that comprises a main hull and two smaller outrigger hulls (or "floats") which are attached to the main hull with lateral beams. Most modern trimarans are sailing yachts designed for recreati ...

with long floaters, ''

Poulain Poulain is the French word for foal and is a common French surname. It may refer to: ;People * Amélie Poulain, central character of romantic comedy film Amélie * Jean-Paul Poulain, a French cabaret singer * Raphaël Poulain (b. 1980), French ...

'', at the helm of which he set in 1989-1990 the single-handed round the world speed record. From 1992 onwards, he spent his time working towards the

Jules Verne Trophy The Jules Verne Trophy is a prize for the fastest circumnavigation of the world by any type of yacht with no restrictions on the size of the crew provided the vessel has registered with the organization and paid an entry fee. A vessel holding th ...

, the round the world crew record. Wearing the

livery A livery is an identifying design, such as a uniform, ornament, symbol or insignia that designates ownership or affiliation, often found on an individual or vehicle. Livery will often have elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or ...

of Lyonnaise des Eaux - Dumez, in 1994, he raced around the world against Peter Blake. At the helm of his

catamaran A Formula 16 beachable catamaran Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts, United States A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-stab ...

''Enza'', the New Zealander and his six-member crew managed to go around the world in 74 days and 22 hours, while the five Frenchmen took 77 days and five hours. Remaining determined, he made some improvements to his boat and wearing the livery of Sport Elec, took off again around the world. On 8 March 1997, Olivier de Kersauson and his six-man crew left

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

. They were to return triumphant 71 days, 14 hours, 22 minutes and 8 seconds later, improving by more than a week on Peyron’s first time. In 2001, he named his giant trimaran ''

Geronimo Geronimo ( apm, Goyaałé, , ; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a prominent leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache ba ...

'', "because Geronimo never gave up." It was at the helm of this boat that Olivier de Kersauson took the

for the second time in 2004 (63 days, 13 hours, 59 minutes). In January 2003, Kersauson claimed that his boat was attacked by a

giant squid The giant squid (''Architeuthis dux'') is a species of deep-ocean dwelling squid in the family Architeuthidae. It can grow to a tremendous size, offering an example of abyssal gigantism: recent estimates put the maximum size at around Trace ...

.BBC News
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Radio

* Since 2014 : ''

Les pieds dans le plat Les pieds dans le plat is a French radio show broadcast on Europe 1 which covers news and media reporting. Hosted by Cyril Hanouna, the show is broadcast from Monday to Friday at 4:00 PM. Columnists Guests The show received several guest l ...

'' on

Europe 1 Europe 1, formerly known as Europe n° 1, is a privately owned radio station created in 1955. Owned and operated by Lagardère Active, a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group, it is one of the leading radio broadcasting stations in France and its pro ...

References

1944 births Living people French male sailors (sport) Single-handed circumnavigating sailors Sportspeople from Finistère Volvo Ocean Race sailors {{France-yachtracing-bio-stub