Vincent Riou

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vincent Riou at the 2013 Transat Jacques Vabre
Riou on PRB at the Vendée Globe 2012/13

Vincent Riou (born January 9, 1972 in Pont-l'Abbé , Bretagne , France ) is a French professional sailor who has become famous above all for his high seas regatta successes. His greatest success was in 2004/05, the victory in the one-handed circumnavigation of the Vendée Globe , whereupon he was named Sailor of the Year ( Marin de l'année ) by the Fédération française de voile in 2005 .

Life and important achievements

Riou grew up in Loctudy in southwest Brittany ( Finistère department ), where he still lives today with his wife and children. He completed his training as a professional sailing instructor [Brévet d'État] and then worked at the Concarneau base of the renowned French sailing school Les Glénans .

In 2000 he took over the technical preparation of the boat from Michel Desjoyeaux for the Vendée Globe , which Desjoyeaux was to win. In the next edition of the regatta four years later, Riou himself competed on the PRB ; in the circumnavigation of Cape Horn he was still behind Jean Le Cam , but was able to prevail against him on the Atlantic and win the regatta.

On his first participation in the transatlantic regatta Route du Rhum , Riou had to give up after a mast break.

In 2008 Riou appeared again for the Vendée Globe. When Jean Le Cam capsized off Cape Horn , Riou came to his aid, who at that time was fourth in the regatta ranking; he was able to take over Jean Le Cam, who had stayed 16 hours in his overturned boat VM Matériaux , on his own yacht PRB , whose mast attachment he damaged in the process. An hour after the two French had circled Cape Horn together, the makeshift repair gave way and the mast of the PRB came loose . Riou had to give up the regatta and was towed to the Chilean naval base in Puerto Williams . For his help to Jean Le Cam, Riou was awarded 3rd place ( ex-aequo ) by the Vendée Globe.

In 2011 he won the two-handed crew rating at the Fastnet Race with Jean Le Cam . At the Vendée Globe 2012/13, Riou had to give up after he collided with a buoy ( shipping sign ) in the Atlantic . In 2013 a 5th place followed in the Fastnet race (again with Jean Le Cam) before the two French won the Transat Jacques Vabre . In 2014, Riou had to give up on his third participation in the Route du Rhum due to technical problems. In 2015 he won the Transat Jacques Vabre again with Sébastien Col.

At the Vendée Globe 2016, Vincent Riou had to give up due to damage to the keel after his yacht hit an unknown object in the South Atlantic on the night of 20 to 21 November - similar to the Vendée Globe 2012. At this point Riou was sailing towards the Cape of Good Hope in the group of the leading participants .

Regatta successes (selection)

  • 2011
    • Winner of the Azimut Trophy
    • Winner of the Fastnet race in the two-hand classification with Jean Le Cam
    • Winner in the Artemis Challenge
  • 2010
    • 2nd place in the Tour d'Espagne , with two stage victories
    • 5th place in the Route du Rhum ( La Banque Postale )
  • 2008/09: Vendée Globe: 3rd honorary place after the rescue of Jean Le Cam and subsequent loss of mast
  • 2004: Winner of the Vendée Globe
  • 2003:
    • Participation as a crew member in the Calais Round Britain Race (1st place) and the Fastnet race (2nd place)
    • 4th place at the Transat Jacques Vabre with Jérémie Beyou
    • 2nd place at the Défi Atlantique (one-handed transatlantic regatta from Salvador da Bahia to La Rochelle )
    • Navigator on the Géant trimaran (including 2nd place at the Grand Prix de Lorient , 3rd place at the Grand Prix de Fécamp )
  • 2001:
    • Season on the multihull boat Bonduelle under skipper Jean Le Cam (1st place in the Grand Prix de Cagliari)
    • 8th place on the Transat Jacques Vabre with the Swiss skipper Bernard Stamm
  • 2000: Technical preparation of the 60-foot PRB regatta for Michel Desjoyeaux for his victory in the Vendée Globe
  • 1999: French master on the Figaro for crews
  • 1996
    • 1st place in the mini Fastnet
    • French champion in first class
  • 1994
    • 2nd place in the Tour de France à la Voile , amateur category
    • 1st place in the championnat de France de Match Racing

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c own information on: Le palmarès ( Memento of the original from September 16, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Riou's website: sport.prb.fr (accessed September 10, 2016) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / sport.prb.fr
  2. ↑ Vincent Riou in: Ces Marins célèbres qui font honneur aux Glénans .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Contribution by Vincent Riou to the Glénans publication Le Courrier des Glénans No. 74 (French; PDF file; accessed December 29, 2010)@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.glenans.it  
  3. ↑ a b Vincent Riou. PRB. (Portrait) Skipper portraits of the 2016 edition on the Vendée Globe website (accessed September 10, 2016)
  4. ↑ Bob Fisher (January 8, 2009). Le Cam's rescue boat loses mast near Cape Horn. The Guardian (accessed September 10, 2016)
  5. ↑ Source for parts or the entire article on vendeeglobe.org : communiqué PRB (November 22, 2016). Actualités. Vincent Riou (PRB) abandonne! (accessed January 21, 2017)

Web links

Commons : Vincent Riou  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files
personal data
SURNAME Riou, Vincent
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French sailor
DATE OF BIRTH January 9, 1972
PLACE OF BIRTH Pont-l'Abbé , Brittany , France