Armel Le Cléac’h (; born 11 May 1977 in

Saint-Pol-de-Léon Saint-Pol-de-Léon (; ) is a commune in the Finistère department in Brittany in north-western France, located on the coast. It is noted for its 13th-century cathedral on the site of the original founded by Saint Paul Aurelian in the 6th cen ...

) is a French professional

navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's prim ...

and

sea captain A sea captain, ship's captain, captain, master, or shipmaster, is a high-grade licensed mariner who holds ultimate command and responsibility of a merchant vessel. The captain is responsible for the safe and efficient operation of the ship, inc ...

. He was the

IMOCA IMOCA or iMOCA may refer to: * Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art * International Monohull Open Classes Association, International Monohull Open Class Association * IMOCA 50, a former 50ft racing yacht class * IMOCA 60, an active 60ft racing y ...

world champion in 2008 and French champion in single-handed yacht race in 2003. He notably won the

Solitaire du Figaro The Solitaire du Figaro, previously called the Course de l'Aurore, is a solo multi-stage sailing race created in 1970 by Jean-Louis Guillemard and . The unique character of the race, the presence of great solo sailors and its being open to amateu ...

twice (2003 and 2010), the Transat AG2R in 2004 and 2010 and the

Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race The Single-handed Trans-Atlantic Race (STAR) is an east-to-west yacht race across the North Atlantic. When inaugurated in 1960, it was the first single-handed ocean yacht race; it is run from Plymouth in England to Newport, Rhode Island in t ...

in 2016. He finished second in both the 2008–09 (first participation) and 2012–13 (second participation) editions of the

Vendée Globe --> The Vendée Globe is a single-handed (solo) non-stop, unassisted 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 Vendé ...

. In the Vendée Globe 2016–17, he finished first with a new record time of 74d, 3h 35m, 46s. His performance earned him the 2018

Laureus World Sports Award for Action Sportsperson of the Year The Laureus World Sports Award for Action Sportsperson of the Year, known as the Alternative Sportsperson of the Year prior to 2007, is an annual award honouring the achievements of individual athletes from the world of action sports. It was fir ...

Biography

Armel Le Cléac’h was born on 11 May 1977 in

. He spent his childhood sailing in the

Morlaix Morlaix (; , ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. History The Battle of Morlaix, part of the Hundred Years' War, was fought near the town on 30 Septembe ...

bay and started competing in Optimist-class dinghies at eight years old. He later joined the

Finistère Finistère (, ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. Its prefecture is Quimper and its largest city is Brest, France, Brest. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.Lannion Lannion ( ; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. It is a subprefecture of Côtes-d'Armor, the capital of Trégor and the center of an urban area of almost 60,000 inhabitants. Climate Lannion h ...

and joins the 3rd year in the INSA de Rennes in Sport Excellence class, which allows him to balance sailing training and engineering classes during 3 years..

Sailing career

Le Cléac’h began his professional sailing career in 1999. He was the

world champion in 2008 and French champion in single-handed yacht race in 2003, he notably won the

twice (2003 et 2010), the Transat AG2R in 2004 and 2010 and the

in 2016. He finished second in the

, during the 2008-2009 (first participation) and 2012-2013 editions (second participation). Cléac’h won the Vendée Globe 2016–2017 with a record of 74d 3h 35' 46" with Banque Populaire VIII designed by Verdier/

VPLP design VPLP Design (Van Peteghem Lauriot-Prévost) is a French-based naval architectural firm founded by Marc Van Peteghem and Vincent Lauriot-Prévost, responsible for designing some of the world's most innovative racing boats. Their designs presently ...

Achievements

He was the winner of the 2016-17

in a new record time of 74 days, three hours and 35 minutes. In 2018, he won the

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Cleach, Armel 1977 births Living people People from Saint-Pol-de-Léon Sportspeople from Finistère Single-handed sailors French male sailors (sport) French Vendee Globe sailors 2008 Vendee Globe sailors 2012 Vendee Globe sailors 2016 Vendee Globe sailors Vendée Globe finishers Knights of the Legion of Honour Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite