SEB JOSSE & GITANA TEAM BACK IN THE IMOCA CLASS

The Gitana team has confirmed that their skipper Seb Josse will be on the start line of the 2016 Vendee Globe, with plans to rejoin the IMOCA 60 class and the Ocean Masters World Championships circuit in 2015.

While it is the second Vendée Globe experience for the team, it will be the third for Josse who competed in the 2004 and 2008 editions. He recalls: “My history with the Vendée Globe began some 12 years ago, in 2002, when I was entrusted with the helm of my first IMOCA project. That Vendée proved to be a journey of discovery. I set out on an old boat, which wasn't really competitive. However, those three months of sailing and my fifth place taught me a great many other things. The race helped me to my feet…

"In 2008, I returned at the helm of a latest generation monohull. Unfortunately my race was cut short off New Zealand due to structural damage. That retirement has been a great frustration to me and until today it has left me with the sense that my story with the Vendée Globe remains unfinished.

"I’m very happy with the Gitana Team’s choices and I’m all too aware of the incredible opportunity Ariane and Benjamin de Rothschild are giving me by enabling us to get involved in such an adventure. For a sailor, the Vendée Globe is much more than a mere race.”