Considered one of the revelations of the last Vendée Globe race on board his old generation IMOCA named “Papy”, also recent winner of The Ocean Race Europe with Offshore Team Germany, the young Vendée native skipper Benjamin Dutreux is on the and seems unstoppable.

From 2022, he will embark on board his freshly bought IMOCA boat. A 2016 generation foiler benefiting from all the latest technical developments. Currently sailing under the colors of 11th Hour Racing, this boat is known as reliable and efficient and that is what seduced the sailor and his team. 

Only four months after the finish of his first solo round-the-world race, Benjamin Dutreux set his sights on IMOCA 11th Hour Racing to start a new four-year project with the aim of a second participation in the Vendée Globe. "As soon as I back on shore, I had to bounce back quickly, very quickly!" Declares Benjamin Dutreux.  

"The number one objective was to sell my boat. The second was to be able to buy a reliable boat so I could be very competitive in the IMOCA Globe Series Championship straight away. I would like to take the opportunity here to thank very much Crédit Agricole Atlantique Vendée for the trust they placed in me by finding financing solutions quickly. It was not easy as we had to be reactive, we were not the only ones."

© Charles Drapeau / ILP Vision

« We bought time and serenity »

Former 2016 Hugo Boss boat, currently 11th Hour Racing boat, the yacht spent two years with Charlie Enright’s US team being developed and tuned. She will roll off their yard in the summer as their goal is to participate in The Ocean Race, a crewed round-the-world race with stopovers. It is therefore one of the most reliable boats on the IMOCA circuit today. "She’s a well-born boat," said Thomas Cardrin, the team’s boat captain, “She’s an original foiler, which means the structure of the boat is right. It is one of the best performing IMOCA boat over the recent years. She has a large number of miles under her belt proving her strong reliability.”adds Thomas. 

"The Charlie Enright team had the opportunity to test many shapes of foils and here ends up with the current version, which is a Guillaume Verdier 2021 version, conforming to the new gauge. The boat is real  « turnkey » option, ready to sail and solid, which is a significant advantage in our preparation for the Vendée Globe 2024."says the skipper.

For Benjamin, the objective is double: We had to find a high performance IMOCA that was also reliable in order to go sailing quickly. " I'm very happy. She really is a boat suited to our needs. "With the team, we really wanted to be able to sail as much as possible and spend little time on dry land because we will need learn everyday how to race this new flying machine. By buying this IMOCA, we bought serenity and time allowing us to progress quickly. We are so excited! ".       

© Amaury Ross / 11th Hour Racing Team
                                                                                                    

An ambitious program

From next month, Benjamin will join Damien Seguin and the APICIL Group for three races on the IMOCA Globe Series Championship. The Transat Jacques Vabre next November will be the main objective of this season for this new and promising duo.

It will be before the end of the year, during the return delivery of the Transat Jacques Vabre, that Benjamin and his team will get their hands on the helm of their new boat. The team wants to participate in as many races as possible on the IMOCA Globe Series circuit. 

The program is long and various, which brings even more interest to the partners. Benjamin’s recent experience on The Ocean Race Europe on board Offshore Team Germany reinforced his strong desire to line up for the start of The Ocean Race in 2022. "This crewed round-the-world race is the perfect solution to find the keys of this boat works and make the most of its potential solo in the future." explains Benjamin. "We are doing everything we can to find sponsors who will want to line up with us in this legendary event which has massive international repercussions. ".