Guirec SOUDÉE

IMOCA Globe Series31th
Points149 pts
Age32 (1/3/92)
Top performance6th of Vendée Arctique in 2022
Joined Imoca on2022
TeamFreelance.com
BaseConcarneau (FRANCE)

Profile

Barely 30 years old, Guirec has already acquired a solid experience of the sea and a remarkable notoriety in the maritime and adventure sports world. At the age of 21, the young Breton undertook a 5-year round-the-world sailing trip through the 2 poles, during which he spent 130 days locked up in the Greenland ice without assistance, without communication, in complete autarky.

He then spent several years sailing the different seas of the globe and became the youngest sailor in the world to sail the Northwest Passage, before reaching Cape Horn and the South Pole. In 2021, he set himself a new challenge: a double solo Atlantic crossing by rowing boat, from East to West, then from West to East, still without assistance. In total, Guirec will have spent more than 670 days alone (or almost) at sea during his oceanic journeys.

In 2022, Guirec is starting a new ambitious adventure: to participate in the most prestigious and well-publicised ocean races in the world. This is what he will do with his boat (the IMOCA with which Benjamin Dutreux finished 9th in the last Vendée Globe), which will bear the name and colours of Freelance.com, during competitions such as the Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe and then the Transat Jacques Vabre in 2023, The Transat CIC in 2024 with the Everest of the seas in his sights: the next edition of the Vendée Globe in 2024/25.

To achieve this, Guirec Soudée has set about building an experienced team, with Sébastien Audigane in particular as boat-captain, who is currently preparing Freelance.com in Port-Bourgenay with Eole Performance, Benjamin Dutreux's company. After the Guyader Bermuda 1000 Race in May, the team moved to Kairos Sailing Team, the structure of the experienced Roland Jourdain in Concarneau in Finistère.

To achieve this, Guirec Soudée has put together an experienced team, with Sébastien Audigane as boat-captain, who will accompany him throughout the preparation of his 60-foot boat and will race the 2023 season with Corentin Douguet.

Sailing Highlights

2023 : Retour à La Base - 24th
2023 : Transat Jacques Vabre - 20th
2023 : Défi Azimut-Lorient Agglomération - DNS
2023 : Rolex Fastnet Race - 20th
2023 : Guyader Bermudes 1000 Race - Abandon
2022 : Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe - 25th
2022 : Défi Azimut-Lorient Agglomération - 20th
2022 : Vendée Arctique - 6th
2022 : Guyader Bermudes 1000 Race - 16th
Other highlights

2020 - 2021: 2x Atlantic crossing by rowing boat
2013 - 2015: Single-handed circumnavigation of the globe on a 10.70m steel yacht

Boat

Name FREELANCE.COM
Sail numberFRA 22
ArchitectBruce Farr Yacht Design
Construction2007, Offshore Challenges Sailing Team, Cowes, Royaume-Uni
Former namesESTRELLA DAMM, BT, Veolia Environnement, Hugo BOSS, Neutrogena, Adopteunskipper.net, Safran, Spirit of Yukoh IV, Water Family, OMIA - Water Family
Length18,28 m
Beam5,85 m
Draught4,50 m
Weight8,4 tonnes
Mast height29 m
Mast typeClassic mast
FoilsNo
Sail area max.
Upwind296 m2
Downwind700 m2
© Vincent Curutchet
© Eloi Stichelbaut - polaRYSE / IMOCA
© Eloi Stichelbaut - polaRYSE / IMOCA
© François Van Malleghem - Guyader Bermudes 1000 Race