Vincent Riou (born 9 January 1972,

Pont-l'Abbé Pont-l'Abbé (; , "Abbot's bridge") is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. The self-styled capital of Pays Bigouden (roughly the region between the river Odet and the Bay of Audierne), Pont-l'Abbé was fo ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

) is a French sailor. He is the skipper of PRB, a 60-foot

monohull image:monohull.svg, right A monohull is a type of boat having only one hull (watercraft), hull, unlike multihulled boats which can have two or more individual hulls connected to one another. Fundamental concept Among the earliest hulls were simple ...

. He won the 2004 edition of the

Vendée Globe --> The Vendée Globe is a single-handed (solo) non-stop round the world yacht race. The race was founded by Philippe Jeantot in 1989, and since 1992 has taken place every four years. It is named after the Département of Vendée, in France, w ...

Recent events

As part of his introduction to solo racing he helped prepared

Michel Desjoyeaux Michel Desjoyeaux (born 16 July 1965 in Concarneau) is a French sailor, known for competing successfully in several long-distance single-handed races. He won the Vendée Globe race in 2000-01 and 2008–09, making him the only person to win t ...

’s 60-foot PRB for the 2000 edition of the

. In the 2008 Vendée Globe, he lost his mast the day after a collision that occurred during the rescue of

Jean Le Cam Jean Le Cam (born 27 April 1959 in Quimper, Finistère) is a French sailor. In 1981–82, he was a crewmember on Euromarché in the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race. Le Cam was crewman with Éric Tabarly and Michel Desjoyeaux, and won the ...

, whose boat had capsized. In the 2016 Vendée Globe, he sailed at a decent speed completing with front boats fitted with hydrofoils, but after 15 days 11 hours 58 minutes of racing and completing 27% of the whole race, he was forced to retire after another collision with a UFO. The almost exact same incident had happened to Vincent in the

2012–2013 Vendée Globe The 2012–2013 Vendée Globe is a non-stop solo Round the World Yacht Race for IMOCA 60 class yachts this is the seventh edition of the race. Summary The 2012 Vendée Globe started on 10 November 2012. The race saw the 24-hour singlehanded dista ...

with that he is easily one of the most unfortunate sailors of the Vendée Globe.

Honours

* 2nd 1992 Challenge Credit Agricole * 1st 2003 Calais Round Britain Race * 1st 2004 Vendée Globe * 1st 2007 Calais Round Britain Race * 1st 2007 Rolex RORC

Fastnet Race The Fastnet Race is a biennial offshore yacht race organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club of the United Kingdom with the assistance of the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes and the City of Cherbourg in France. The race is named after the Fastnet ...

* 3rd 2008 Vendée Globe * DNF 2012 Vendée Globe * DNF 2016 Vendée Globe

References

1972 births Living people People from Pont-l'Abbé French sailors Vendée Globe finishers Sportspeople from Finistère French male sailors (sport) IMOCA 60 class sailors French Vendee Globe sailors 2004 Vendee Globe sailors 2008 Vendee Globe sailors 2012 Vendee Globe sailors 2016 Vendee Globe sailors {{France-yachtracing-bio-stub