The sport and practice of single-handed sailing or solo sailing is sailing with only one crewmember. The term usually refers to ocean and long-distance sailing and is used in competitive sailing and among cruisers.
The IMOCA, is a 60ft development class monohull sailing yacht governed by the International Monohull Open Class Association (IMOCA). The class pinnacle event are single or two person ocean races, such as the Route du Rhum and the Vendée Globe and this has been intimately linked to design development within the class. The class is recognised by World Sailing.
Class40 is a class of monohull sailboat and a yacht primarily used for short handed offshore and coastal racing. The class is administered by International Class40 Association which is recognised by the World Sailing.
The Transat Jacques Vabre is a yachting race that follows the historic coffee trading route between France and Brazil. It is named after a French brand of coffee.
Speed sailing records are sanctioned, since 1972, by the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC). Records are measured either by average speed over a specified distance or by total distance traveled during a specified time interval. The three most sought after records are the:
The first around the world sailing record for circumnavigation of the world can be attributed to the surviving crew of Ferdinand Magellan's expedition, including the last captain Juan Sebastián Elcano who completed their journey in 1522.
Loïck Peyron is a French yachtsman, younger brother of the yachtsman Bruno Peyron.
Thomas Coville is a French yacht racer.
François Gabart is a French professional offshore yacht racer who won the 2012-13 Vendée Globe in 78 days 2 hours 16 minutes, setting a new race record. In 2017 he set the speed record for sailing around the globe, in 42 days 16 hours 40 minutes and 35 seconds, finishing on 17 December. He was sailing solo in the 30 metre Trimaran Macif.
Alex Pella is a Spanish yachtsman. In 2014 he became the first Spaniard to win a transoceanic single-handed race, the Route du Rhum. Alex Pella made history once again, on 26 January 2017, when he broke, with the rest of the team, the absolute round-the-world speed sailing record, known as the Jules Verne Trophy, aboard the sophisticated maxi-multihull IDEC 3. They circumnavigated the planet in 40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds.
Phil Sharp is a British yachtsman. He was born in Jersey, educated at Victoria College Jersey and qualified from Imperial College London with an MSc in Mechanical Engineering. Sharp holds World Speed Sailing Records. and Guinness World Records for the Cowes-to-Dinard monohull under 60 ft singlehanded, and crewed around Britain and Ireland under 40 ft.
Charlie Dalin is a French offshore sailor. He placed second in the quadrennial Vendée Globe race around the world that took place in 2020–2021, with a time of 80 days, 6 hours, 15 minutes and 47 seconds. He covered 28,268 nautical miles at a race average of 14.67 knots. He has a Naval Architecture degree from the University of Southampton.
The 2016–2017 Vendée Globe was a non-stop solo Round the World Yacht Race for IMOCA 60 class yachts and the eighth edition of the race.
The 2012–2013 Vendée Globe was a non-stop solo Round the World Yacht Race for IMOCA 60 class yachts and the seventh edition of the race.
Alain Gautier is a French professional offshore sailor. He is best known for winning the 1992–1993 Vendée Globe. He currently heads Lanic Sport Development, founded in 1989, and specializing in the preparation of and assistance to offshore racing teams including those of Ellen MacArthur in 1998 and Isabelle Joschke in 2019. He headed with Bertrand Pacé the Aleph challenge for the 34th America's Cup in 2013 but the team never got the funding required. It competed in the America's Cup World Series on supplied AC45 catamarans before withdrawing.
Foncia 2 is a IMOCA 60 Class offshore racing monohull sailing yacht launched in 2010.
Roland Jourdain, often nicknamed "Bilou" is a French professional yachtsman, born on 28 April 1964 in Quimper. He has twice won the Route du Rhum transatlantic race.
Richard Tolkien is a British corporate finance adviser, director and trustee and experienced adventure sailor who grew up in Devon. He was educated at King Edward VI School, Totnes, and Exeter College, Oxford (1974–1977), where he won the Webb Medley prize and graduated with a first in PPE. He joined HM Treasury that year and worked for the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the private office from 1979 to 1982.
Paul Meilhat is a French sailor and navigator. He was a high level 49er dinghy sailor with Olympic aspirations before moving into offshore sailing. From 2015 to the end of 2018 he was skipper of the IMOCA 60 - SMA and competed in the Vendée Globe.
Malizia-Seaexplorer (3) or Team Malizia (3), is an IMOCA 60 monohull sailing yacht, designed by VPLP and Boris Herrmann and constructed by Multiplast in France and launched on 19 July 2022. It has been designed for the Vendée Globe 2024, a solo tour of the world, but also participated in The Ocean Race 2023, a crewed around-the-world tour. Its skipper is the German yatchsman Boris Herrmann.
