The Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team has announced leading French sailor Yoann Richomme as skipper of the campaign that will contest the 2021-22 edition of The Ocean Race.

Richomme joins the campaign to lead the charge into The Ocean Race having enjoyed an illustrious career which has seen him crowned champion of La Solitaire du Figaro twice, most recently in 2019, a victory that built on his 2018 win in the Route du Rhum.

Based out of Lorient, France, the spiritual home of French ocean racing, Richomme follows in the footsteps of French legends such as Eric Tabarly, Jérémie Beyou and winning Ocean Race skippers Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelier.
 

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Both Caudrelier and Bruno Dubois, who joined forces to spearhead Dongfeng Race Team's 2017-18 Race win, are advisors to Paulo Mirpuri and the Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team, and picked out Richomme as the perfect sailor to lead the campaign into the next race.

"I knew right away that Yoann was top of my list for the next race. Yoann’s recent race wins speak for themselves," explained Dubois.

"From his base in Lorient, he is racing in the ocean up to 200 days of the year. He has the natural feel for how to make a boat fast and also the technical skill to make best use of the data and manage his team. He is without a doubt the most exciting sailor on the market right now.”

Richomme will take the helm of the ‘Racing for the Planet’ VO65 entry of the Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team.

“I am very proud to be appointed to skipper the Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team in the Ocean Race. Winning this race has been a goal of mine for a long time and I am ready to take on this challenge," Richomme said.

“I have great respect for the message that the Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team is bringing around the world. As a father, I want to pass this beautiful planet on to my daughter and the next generation. We are racing for the planet and each small step forward can make a big difference."

He added: "We have one of the greatest assets that any successful team needs – time. With the boat already in the water, 2020 will be our year to trial different sailors and team configurations in order to select the very best team. We will also enter some practice races this year and begin our preparations in earnest, so we know we will arrive at the start line with a team capable of winning the race”
 

© Brian Carlin

Paulo Mirpuri, Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team Owner said: “I am delighted to welcome Yoann to the Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team. We are fortunate to have Bruno and Charles advising us on how to build the very best team. Their knowledge and insight is the best in the world and I tasked them with finding a skipper who can take our boat and lead it to victory in 2021.”

“In Yoann, they have seen someone who has the rare balance of a skilled sailor and patient leader with an eye for the finest detail. I am already impressed with his approach and his mindset. We will do all we can to empower him to assemble a race-winning team and to lead the way in bringing our message, ‘Racing for the Planet’ around the globe.”

With its skipper secured, the team begins its 2020 sailing programme in earnest. The team is inviting professional sailors from around the world who believe they have what it takes to compete in the toughest race in the world. The team will begin testing potential team members in the coming months before embarking on their practice race outings before the end of the year.

www.theoceanrace.com