Mer Agitée, Spindrift Racing, Mer Concept: from the outset, Antoine Carraz has worked for organisations where excellence and performance go hand in hand. He joined Orient Express Racing Team in March 2022, first as Shore Team Manager before becoming Technical Director.

Antoine grew up in the Haute-Savoie between Thônes, Annecy and La Clusaz, and while he spent his childhood far from the sea he discovered cruising at an early age with his parents during the holidays. "I must have been two or three years old when I went on my first cruise. Later I started going to sailing school in the summer on Lake Annecy, which I really enjoyed. I started double-handed racing at the age of ten as a crew member on a L’Équipe dinghy,” he said.

In parallel, Antoine was passionate about skiing. "I skied competitively between the ages of nine and 12, but at some point my sailing level became higher than my skiing level. I continued to do it as a hobby, but competing at an elite standard is very demanding. It doesn't leave much time to do anything else on the side.” So, he set his sights on sailing.

With the title of French Team Champion in the bag, he moved on to other disciplines, including the 420 and keelboats. He went on to become French Espoir Match Race Champion, French 420 Vice-Champion, and then finished 20th in the 420 World Championships. Antoine competed at home and abroad. "I've done quite a bit of match racing on the world circuit and taken part in the Tour Voile five times.”

Despite all the sport, he did not neglect his studies. Armed with a scientific baccalaureate, he studied Mechanical Engineering at a University Institute of Technology before moving to an Engineering School in Le Mans. Antoine, who had been immersed in the world of sailing since he was a child, was determined to shape a career in yachting. "When you compete in dinghies you sail every Wednesday and every weekend. I've always wanted to work in sailing, but I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it. I chose not to go to a naval architecture school but rather a general engineering school. I didn't want to do anything too specific, especially as at the time ocean racing teams as we know them now didn't really exist apart from Mer Agitée. Places were very hard to secure and it wasn't easy to get in.”

Luck smiled on Antoine, and he did his end-of-studies work placement at Mer Agitée working on the design of Michel Desjoyeaux's IMOCA Foncia for the 2008 Vendée Globe.

After a three-year stint as an IMOCA engineer (2007 to 2010) he became Boat Captain of the Foncia D35, and after that of the team’s MOD70. He was able to combine shore-based work with sailing, mainly on the D35 and the MOD70, while continuing to match race. "This first experience with Michel Desjoyeaux, who has very high expectations and has both technical and sailing skills, formed the basis of everything. It gave me my foot in the door. I cut my teeth at Mer Agitée and I learned a lot.”

The next chapter in Antoine’s career started in 2013 with Spindrift Racing as Technical Director. During this period he did a lot of sailing on the Maxi trimaran. "This experience was different from the previous one, but just as rewarding. The Maxi had already been built and the other boats were one-design, so I sailed a lot and learned to better understand the boats at sea. That helps with the design work.”  

From there, Antoine joined Mer Concept in 2018 as Design and Construction Manager for the IMOCA Apivia project. "I joined Mer Concept at the very start of Charlie Dalin's Vendée Globe project. I managed the technical side from start to finish, from design through construction to operation over four years. It was a great experience. I did less sailing, but it was a more global project. We had to build the boat, test it and run it.”

Antoine joined Orient Express Racing Team in March 2022. "The team was looking for a shore crew manager and they contacted me. I'd always worked in ocean racing in France. I started my career during the 32ndAmerica's Cup and, apart from Groupama, there hasn't been another French campaign since. This kind of opportunity doesn't come along very often in this country. And obviously when you have a background in inshore sailing and you're a technician and a sailor, it's a very attractive prospect! I'd thought about it in the past, but just had to find the right opportunity to go for it. In 2017, during Groupama's campaign, I wanted to do the Jules Verne Trophy with Spindrift.

“It was the right time to seize the opportunity because we were coming to the end of the Apivia project. When I arrived at Orient Express Racing Team, Dimitri Despierres was in this role. But the initial project didn't come to fruition when the partner withdrew, and Dimitri went back to American Magic. Bruno Dubois asked me if I felt capable of taking on this role, given that I had no Cup experience. I accepted. My experience at the heart of different projects, which are quite complementary, will help me. In particular, I ticked the design box with the Apivia project, which was an enriching experience. Many of my fellow Orient Express Racing Team colleagues have America’s Cup experience, so that will compensate," he concluded with all the humility that characterises him.

What does the America's Cup mean to you?

"The America's Cup represents excellence. At Orient Express Racing Team, we will have different resources and we will go into more detail around each parameter. As a technician, that's really interesting because we're going to be able to do things that we've never had the means or the resources to do before. And there's an international dimension. The Cup attracts a lot of foreigners. I can't wait to be able to compare my ideas and my way of seeing things and working with that of the Italians, the Anglo-Saxons and the Swiss. It's going to allow me to evolve and learn even more.”

Do you have any particular memories of the America's Cup?

"I'm from Haute-Savoie, 30 minutes from Geneva. So I'd say Alinghi's victory in 2003. I went to Geneva to see the America’s Cup. It was a remarkable event because the America's Cup seemed a long way away before that moment. Suddenly it was right next door to us, in a country where there's no sea. It just goes to show that if you weren't born by the sea, you can still have a winning campaign. You could rub shoulders with members of the team on Lake Geneva. This victory put a face and an image on the Cup.” 

Your motto?

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained!”

 Results in brief

2022: Winner, Spi Ouest-France, Open 7.50 class
2017:2nd Bol d'Or Mirabaud, Spindrift
2016:Winner, Québec - Saint-Malo, Spindrift
2015:Jules Verne Trophy, Spindrift (circumnavigation completed, record not broken)
2013: Record, Route de la Découverte, Spindrift
2012: Winner, MOD70 European Tour, Foncia / 3rd Krys Ocean Race, MOD70, Foncia
2011: Winner, Vulcain Trophy, D35 class, Foncia / French Match Racing Champion
2009: 5th Tour Voile, Farr30, Val Thorens / 3rd French Match Racing Championship
2008: 4th Tour Voile

Date of birth: 1 February 1983
French

Offshore racer, sailor, company director, master sailmaker or team manager, Bruno Dubois is well known for his successful leadership of many large-scale projects throughout his career. Now CEO of the France SailGP Team, this legend of ocean racing is also co-partner of K-Challenge, and sports director of the Orient Express Team, the French challenger for the 37th America’s Cup.

The son of a Belgian professional football player, Bruno Dubois grew up in Belgium. He discovered the joys of sailing at a very young age, first during the summer holidays, and later with family friends. Driven by a spirit of adventure and escape, Bruno experimented with different platforms notching up many sea miles on the 420, 470, and Hobbie Cat. Inspired by stories of Bernard Moitessier, Jacques Brel’s around the world adventures, the singer Antoine, and Gérard Janichon and Jérôme Poncet’s adventures on board Damien, the young Belgian also dreamt of the open ocean. 

After his studies, he spent his military service with the Belgian national sailing team, competing in many RORC races. From there it was a short step to finding rides and delivering boats back and forth across the Atlantic, before buying a Muscadet and competing in the 1983 Mini Transat.

In 1984, he moved to Canada – later obtaining Canadian nationality – where he started a family and took part in the first edition of the Transat Quebec-Saint Malo onboard a trimaran. A year later, he chose the Tour de France à la Voile and his work as a sailmaker over a Whitbread Race, a temporary delay as he skippered Rucanor Sport in the 1989/90 edition.

Back in Europe he took over the management of North Sails France, determined to pursue both a professional land-based career in parallel to his ocean racing, the two being closely linked. There followed a Jules Verne Trophy with Ellen MacArthur, two Transat Jacques Vabre events with Mike Golding, deliveries, and regattas on numerous different circuits, racing one, two and three hulls, until a capsize in 2009 on an Extreme 40 at the age of 50.

“I was injured and a bit traumatised by the accident, and after the 2011 Transat Jacques Vabre, I decided that the time had come to hang up my boots,” he said.    

But his story doesn’t end there! Mark Turner reached out, and in 2013 Bruno took over the management of the Dongfeng Race Team ahead of the 2014/15 Volvo Ocean Race, resigning his position at North Sails but remaining a shareholder. From there, he moved on to the America’s Cup with Groupama Team France as team manager. Having raced in the event in 2007 as trimmer and head of sails for Areva Challenge under the leadership of Stephan Kandler, he knew the competition well. Then it was back to Dongfeng Race Team for a second attempt on the Volvo Ocean Race which the team won.  

Two weeks after the end of the project, the phone rang again. This time it was Russell Coutts offering him the opportunity to lead the Chinese team in the inaugural season of SailGP. “I accepted, and after a year the Chinese decided to stop, and I joined the France SailGP Team which I have been managing since 2020. Having made some changes, we are starting to notch up some good results and give the best teams a run for their money,” he said, with two SailGP victories under his belt.

Always in search of new challenges, Bruno again joined forces with Stephan Kandler, the founder of K-Challenge. “I have known Stephan since 1997. When I came back from Canada, I made the sails for his father’s boat at North Sails and Stephan was sailing on board,” said Bruno. “For Orient Express Team, I decided to concentrate on the sporting side of things in collaboration with Franck Cammas who is in charge of performance within the Design Team.”

Currently based in the UK, he dreams of achieving a good result in the America’s Cup. “We have an exceptional opportunity with a high-performance team and boat. It makes me dream. I want to go as far as possible with this team and bring my experience to a new generation.”   

Bruno, who has just graduated in coaching, remains focussed on a career in sailing. “I did a master’s degree in coaching focussed on mental preparation last year and would like to turn to that after the America’s Cup, following one or two athletes in their career. I also bought a catamaran to cruise.” Some great projects on the horizon! 

Your favourite quote?

"Sometimes it's better to apologise than to ask for permission.”

What is the best advice you have ever been given?

"Never give up" - advice from my grandfather when I was about 10 years old.

What does the America's Cup mean to you?

“It's the biggest technological competition in sailing. Along with the SailGP it's elite racing.” 

A memory from the Cup?

“A text message from Larry Ellison when we beat the Brits and Swedes in the Cup in Bermuda in 2017.”

In brief

Since 2021, co-partner of K-Challenge and sports director of Orient Express Team
Since 2020, Director of France SailGP Team
2015-17: Director of Groupama Team France (35th America's Cup)
2014-15: Director of Dongfeng Race Team (Volvo Ocean Race)
2007-2011: 2 x Transat Jacques Vabre
2003: Jules Verne with Ellen Macarthur
1999: Farr 45 European and World Champion
1991-2015: North Sails
1989-90: Skipper, Rucanor Sport for the Whitbread Round the World Race
1983: Victory in the Mini-Transat

Born in Belgium on 8 September 1959
Dual nationality: Belgian and Canadian

Fascinated by sailing boats from an early age, Louis Viat turned his passion into a profession.

He started his career with the Groupama Sailing Team and has not looked back. After several rewarding experiences in key roles, mainly in the world of ocean racing, he was offered the post of Chief Operating Officer at the Orient Express Racing Team in February 2023.

Originally from the Paris region, where he grew up before going off to boarding school in central France, Louis spent every holiday in Brittany at his grandparents' holiday home in Saint-Philibert (Morbihan). "When I was a kid, I used to go and knock on the door of the shipyards next door to see the boats. The marine world fascinated me. It was the time of Fujicolor, Primagaz... We also did a lot of cruising. I was on a boat from the age of three,” he said.

Aged 14 and passionate about the sea, he started competing along with a group of friends from La Trinité-sur-Mer. Among them were Julien Villion and Corentin Horeau. "Things went from strength to strength when I went to Nantes to do a diploma in Materials Science and Engineering after my baccalaureate in science. I started sailing F18s with Julien and we spent three or four years competing together.”  

During his studies Louis devoted a week a month to training. "Julien and I were going to switch to an Olympic project, but after the change of classes, we settled on the Tour de France à la Voile on a Mumm 30 and then an M34.

“We set up a campaign with Multiplast and Safran that included all the young ‘Trinitans’ of my generation. It lasted two years. We sailed with Nicolas Lunven and Antoine Koch. It was great!” 

It was also in La Trinité-sur-Mer that Louis met Franck Cammas, a decisive encounter. "We were lucky enough to sail on the Open 7.50s with him. A friend's father had a boat and Franck didn't have one at the time. He took the helm, and we spent two or three seasons together. Later he called me back for some match racing in the mid-2000s.”

The two men met again on the F18 circuit and Louis turned to Franck in 2009 for his end-of-studies internship, which he continued in Business Engineering and Project Management at Le Mans. "Stéphane Guilbaud, who was then director of the Groupama Sailing Team, agreed to take me on as an intern. I was his first trainee, and it was a good fit. It was the start of the Volvo Ocean Race and Extreme Sailing Series project. I ended up going back the following year… When it came to completing my end-of-year thesis, I didn't manage to come up with a clear idea and failed the year." Instead of repeating and finishing his studies, Louis decided to take part in the Volvo Ocean Race with the Groupama Sailing Team.

Volvo Ocean Race, Extreme Sailing Series, Tour Voile, C-Class, the projects came thick and fast. "I sailed double-handed with Franck on the C-Class, and we spent two great years breaking new ground on foiling boats. We were the first to fly small catamarans.”

In 2015, Louis stepped up a gear and became COO of Groupama Team France for the 2017 America's Cup in Bermuda – a great achievement and enriching experience for this sailing enthusiast. In parallel, he was sports director for the Team France association from 2016 to 2020. After the Cup, he continued the adventure with Cammas and became manager of Franck Cammas Racing. In this role, he managed the Oman Sail project in Europe and Norauto - Team France on the GC32 Racing Tour.

Louis joined the IMOCA Class in 2019, where he managed the Covid-19 crisis among other things. "I spent a year and a half there. It was rewarding to manage the crisis situation. I enjoyed working with Antoine Mermod.” But his desire to work for a team caught up with him very quickly. "Boris Hermann contacted me at the end of his Vendée Globe campaign. I'd never worked on an IMOCA project before. The campaign was already in place, but it was moving up a gear.” As deputy team leader, Louis was responsible for setting up the project in France and preparing for The Ocean Race.

Before the start, he decided to take a six-month break, having never really taken a sabbatical since his career took off. This was quickly cut short when he received a call from Bruno Dubois, who offered him a place at Orient Express Racing Team, where he was reunited with Franck Cammas!

"We know each other very well and we've always kept in touch. I worked on the Cup with Bruno in 2017 and I know quite a few people in the sailing team. There are some former members of Team France Youth. This project, which has continued to evolve alongside the rest, has enabled us to find some real talent.”

While things are rosy for Louis on the professional front, the classical music fan and keen skier has just one regret: that he didn't stay in rugby a bit longer. "I played for 15 years. I even considered making a career out of it at the end of secondary school. I'd started in the regional selections. It was the only thing that kept me coming back to Paris.” But in the end his passion for the sea and sailing got the better of his rugby ambitions.

His greatest pride: his wife and two children!

Results in brief
2020
Winner, Dhream Cup, Multi50 class (Solidaire en Peloton)
2019
2nd Grand Prix de l'Ecole Navale, Multi50 class (Solidaire en Peloton)
2nd Foiling Week, Flying Phantom (MACIF)
5th Eurocat, Flying Phantom (MACIF)
2017
Winner, Voiles de Saint-Tropez, VOR70 (Babsy)
2016
Winner, Copa del Rey, GC32 (Norauto)
2015
Winner, Little America's Cup, Geneva, C-Class (Groupama)
2014
2nd Tour Voile, M34 class (Groupama)
Winner, Normandy Sailing Week, M34 class (Groupama)
2nd French Elite Ocean Racing Championship, crewed
2013
Winner, Little America's Cup, Falmouth, C-Class (Groupama)
Winner, Tour Voile, M34 class (Groupama)
Winner, Normandy Sailing Week, M34 (Groupama)
1st French Elite Ocean Racing Championship, crewed
2012
Winner, Nation, J80
Winner, MedRace, M34 (COYCH)
Winner, Spi Ouest-France, M34 (Groupama)

What does the America's Cup mean to you?
"It's the competition that demands the most commitment from every point of view. It's the most complex in the world of sailing, the grail of inshore racing but also of project management with a whole symbiosis of shore management and team management on the water and ashore. There are small and big projects, and different strategies. The initial strategy is extremely important, even more so on a short project. I'm quite fascinated by this environment.”

Your most poignant America’s Cup memory?
“The 2012 Cup, which marked the transition from non-foiling boats to foiling boats. What struck me was the speed with which those involved in the Cup tackled the issue of foiling and the huge technical jump from one edition to another. It was absolutely fascinating. There's so much money and technology at stake that when a decision is made regarding the rules, all the teams work on the issue simultaneously and enable huge technological advances.”

Your motto?
"Never give up!”

Date of birth: 28 May 1986
French

Founder of the sport-tech company K-Challenge, Stephan Kandler is a leading figure in international sailing who has forged a solid background in the sport over the past three decades. After a break he is back for a second America’s Cup campaign with the same desire, but broader ambitions beyond the competition.

Born to a German father, a pioneer of the Airbus programme in the 1960s, and a French mother, Stephan left Germany for France at a very young age. After attending business school in Toulouse, he embarked on an entrepreneurial adventure creating K-Yachting International, a racing yacht import and brokerage company. Despite the scepticism of some, the visionary imported the Mumm 30 and positioned it as the future boat for the Tour de France à la Voile. His gamble paid off and the boat replaced the JOD 35 in 1999 – a success which confirmed his belief that you must always believe in your convictions.

Stephan then turned his hand to organising sailing events including the K-Yachting Pro-Am Cup, the double-handed Tour of Corsica, the Mumm 30 World and European Championships, while continuing to pursue his brokerage and sailing activities, including winning the One Ton Cup in 1999. This experience was formative as it led him to seek sponsors, and work with local authorities and sailors. During his career, he has raised over 50 million euros in sponsorship and has managed teams and companies from 10 to 80 people.

In regular touch with the sailing elite, the man whose company contributed to Juan Kouyoumdjian’s career as a naval architect, kept up his own sailing activities and his rich and varied experience led him to found K-Challenge on 4 December 2001 with a view to the 32nd America’s Cup held in Valencia, Spain, in 2007.

Bringing a pioneering spirit to everything that he touches, a quality inherited from his father Ortwin, Stephan built a young and talented team. A forerunner of diversity, he gave pride of place to women both ashore and on the water appointing Dawn Riley to the post of Team Manager. “We had the second smallest budget in the Cup, but we tried to open the game, to innovate. We finished 8th but were the 3rd best French Challenger in terms of number of wins compared to the number of races sailed," he said.

The campaign was a first for future talents such as Guillaume Verdier, Sébastien Col, Nicolas Charbonnier and Benjamin Muyl. In 2009, Stephan joined forces with three-time German Olympic champion and two-time America’s Cup winner Jochen Schümann to create ALL4ONE, which he managed. With Audi as a sponsor, the team scored three podiums and a victory in the Audi Med Cup in 2010 and 2011, won the Copa de Rey in 2012, and representing Geodis twice reached the semi-finals of the Louis Vuitton Trophy in 2012, an international circuit with the first stage in Nice, also organised by Stephan.

After an aborted America’s Cup campaign with Olivier de Kersauson, the withdrawal of Audi from the project, and the death of his father, Stephan put sailing on hold from 2014 until 2021. He concentrated on the family business, including Château Tourril in the Languedoc, and acquired a second vineyard, Domaine des Pentelines, in the Rhône Valley.

His passion for sailing continued unabated however, and he followed the America’s Cup in 2021 closely. Convinced of the interest of returning to the prestigious competition and of France’s performance, he approached Bruno Dubois. The two joined forces for the 37th America’s Cup, and in 2022, against all the odds, the project became reality with a real desire to support a competitive French team. Accor Group and its Orient Express brand allowed them to launch the campaign.

“The Cup is a breeding ground for innovation in the maritime sector. Several engineers created their own companies following the 2007 campaign, with major innovations. One of our goals this time is to apply what we develop for the America’s Cup to industry,” said Stephan.

The aim is to contribute to the decarbonisation of transport, and to retain the engineers once the competition is over. “Our aim is for K-Challenge, the world’s leading sport-tech, to continue after the Cup. We are currently working on several technologies, including digital simulation, which we could apply to other fields, and the hydrogen foiling boat. Our ambition is to contribute to making French industry more competitive and Accor has also invested in the subsidiary K-Challenge Labs with this in mind.”

Sailing achievements

2012: Winner of the Copa del Rey (TP52)
2010, 2011: 3x Audi Med Cup podiums (TP52)
1999 and 2001: Winner of the One Ton Cup (IC45)
1999: Trofeo Majorica 1999 (IC45)

What does the America's Cup mean to you?

“The America's Cup is a childhood dream that attracted me in the 1980s, especially with the Australian victory, which was one of the greatest sporting achievements in history. There is no more complex and uneven event, which makes it the most motivating human, sporting, and technological challenge ever.”

What do you remember most about the America's Cup?

“Australia's victory in 1983 and K-Challenge's victory over Alinghi in 2005 in Trapani.”

Your motto?

“Nothing is impossible.”

Born on 11 July 1970 in Munich, Germany
Dual nationality: French and German

Passionate about mountain sports, travel and music Antoine Nougarède, who has been rowing at a high level for many years, joined the Orient Express Racing Team as a cyclist last spring.

Born in Meudon, Antoine Nougarède grew up far from the sea in the Paris region. As a child he played a bit of football and tennis before taking up rowing at the age of 12.

"My father was a good rower. I used to go to the club a lot and people would ask me when I was going to start. I didn't really want to do it, but I tried anyway. I enjoyed being outside, on the water, with friends," he recalls.

While still at school he rowed in the Paris region, either in Versailles or at the Mantes-la-Jolie club where his father was president, but once he passed his baccalauréat, he entered the high-level sports section at the National Institute of Applied Sciences (INSA) in Lyon and trained at the Pôle France.

"While I was studying civil engineering, I was training to be a top-level athlete. I was part of the French Espoirs team." Runner-up in the University World Championship in 2014, he went on to win nine French Championship titles between 2014 and 2023, and a World Indoor Champion relay title.

At the end of his studies, he decided to travel and spent six months in New Zealand, where he continued rowing successfully and won the New Zealand Championship title in 2016. On his return to France he went back to work for a Lyon-based start-up which had recruited him before his departure. At that point, he decided to stop training with the France squad. He then joined SNCF Réseau as a works engineer in 2019 and continued competing on the side with a club in Lyon.

"It was a good compromise, because it's not as much of a headache as rowing for the French national team. If you want to perform well you have to train every day, but I wanted fewer constraints. It allowed me to row for pleasure while continuing to progress physically. In rowing, unless you're one of the best in France and a professional, you have to work on the side. And if you don't have flexible hours, it's impossible to compete at a high level," says Antoine, who has always found it difficult to do just one thing at a time.

In addition to rowing, he also enjoys cross-country skiing, mountaineering, hiking, road cycling and music. He is a guitarist, bassist, composer and singer, and performs with the group Cosmic Mango.

In the spring of 2023, his sporting career took a new turn. Contacted by Kilian Philippe, he passed the selection tests in March to become a cyclist with the Orient Orient Racing Team.

"I liked it straight away. I knew a bit about sailing and the America's Cup, knowing that several top rowers took part with the New Zealanders. I took some tests on bikes that measure the power you can develop. On the AC75, you either need people who can develop watts instantly, or people who can maintain a high intensity for 20-30 minutes," continues the man who is looking forward to taking part in the competition. "The team is top notch. I'm really happy. I realise that this is an incredible opportunity," he says.

While Antoine still works full-time in Lyon, he spends one week a month in Barcelona to train with the rest of the cyclists.

"We'll be there full-time from May, when the AC75 arrives. In the meantime, I'll be doing a lot of weight training and cycling, at a rate of one or two workouts a day. I'll have to be able to keep pedalling even when we get a bit shaken up at sea. I'm really looking forward to it. At the moment, my sailing experience is very limited. I've only sailed a Birdy Fish in Quiberon. We'll be moving straight on to the AC75."

It's the start of a new adventure for this jack of all trades, who can't wait to get started. 

Date of birth: 28 November 1992

Place of birth: Meudon, France

Motto: Let's boogie!

A specific memory of the America's Cup: The participation of Rob Waddell, Olympic Skiff champion from New Zealand. I remember he took up sailing and took part in the America's Cup with the New Zealanders. I thought it was really cool to see that you could retrain in a sport like that. I've got a bit of family in New Zealand who are interested and who think it's great that I'm taking part. There's a real America's Cup culture over there, whereas in France, when I talk about it, I have to explain a bit what it is. All that has contributed to my interest and to my getting involved very quickly.

What the Cup means to him: It wasn't a dream. I would never have imagined taking part one day. But as soon as I heard about it, I wanted to do it. When you have a competitive spirit, joining such a prestigious team is extremely motivating. I'm very excited, even though it's a fairly long project and you have to take things one step at a time. It very quickly became a goal. I'm really happy to be part of the team. We're learning lots of things. There are three or four of us rowing in the team. It's cool to know that you can bounce back and that you're still in good physical shape. For me, who likes to touch everything, it's an open door to something exciting. I find it really enriching to be open to other sports.

A power sailor with Orient Express Racing Team's challenger squad, François Pervis also holds a unique position as the only French athlete in history to have won both Olympic and Paralympic medals.

François — who was honoured to carry the Olympic torch at the 2024 Paris games — has represented France at every Olympics from Athens 2004 to Rio 2016, where he won a Bronze medal in the Team Sprint. In 2020 he won another Bronze at the Paralympics as a sighted guide for Raphael Beaugillet in the men's track cycling time trial.

In addition 'Franck', as he is sometimes known, is a seven-time world champion, a two-time European under-23 champion, the 2002 junior team sprint world champion, and twice the holder of the kilometre time trial world record.

Following his illustrious 22-year career in track cycling he has now joined the power sailors, also known as 'cyclors', who provide the necessary power to sail and race the foiling AC75 yacht in the America's Cup.

On joining the squad he said: "I see a number of similarities between my background as a track cyclist, my world record on a streamlined recumbent bike and the AC75. It's all about speed, carbon, power, marginal gains, aerodynamics, surpassing yourself and optimising performance. Everything I love!

"It's going to be another great human, collective and sporting adventure!" 

His motto: Citius, Altius, Fortius — Faster, Higher, Stronger

A French rower with an impressive track record, Germain Chardin is a member of the Orient Express Racing Team — a new challenge for which the double Olympic medallist has been preparing since his selection last spring.

Germain Chardin discovered sport as a child in Verdun (Meuse) where he grew up: "My father loved it and did a lot of it. He ran, I cycled, he swam and I went running," he recalls.

After playing basketball, judo and volleyball intensively, he turned to rowing after being spotted at the age of 13 by the sports director of Cercle Nautique Verdunois, who saw his rowing potential.

"I started in 1996. Initially, I wasn't particularly competitive. I was more attached to family values and open camaraderie. We had a lot of fun together. We had great potential, but at the time we weren't aware that we needed to exploit it. We were just enjoying our mates and having a good time with them," he recalls.

He won his first French Championship title at Cadet level in Vichy with his cousin on his father's side, to whom he is very close. "I grew up with him and we ended up rowing together. It was great to win this title with him, the start of a wonderful adventure together." His taste for competition continued to develop in Juniors 2, before he switched to the top level.

He went on to win a string of French Championship titles with his club and became one of the world's elite in his category. A Bronze medallist in Beijing in 2008 with his cousin in the coxless four, he went on to win a world title on the same platform in 2010, before winning Olympic silver in the coxless two in London in 2012, followed by a runner-up world title in the coxless two in 2013.

While his career as a top-level sportsman requires a great deal of commitment, Germain has not neglected his studies, which include a degree in marketing and sport. At the same time, he is training at the Pôle France.

"When you take up rowing, your elders quickly make you aware of the need to study. It's still an amateur sport," recalls the man who began his career at Pôle Emploi before going back to school and joining the SNCF's elite athlete scheme in 2013. After finishing 5th at the Rio Olympics in 2016, he decided to put an end to his career as a top-level athlete.

Since 2017, Germain, who is Marketing Manager for the SNCF in Bayonne, has been living in Anglet. "I've always been fascinated by the ocean and the waves. I love the water. My son was three at the time. It was the right time to try this adventure. It's a great place to live, and we're planning to stay in the Basque country, where it's a bit like being on holiday," says the man who stopped rowing for good in 2023 after the French Club Championships. "I'm very competitive. When I sign up, it's to win, which requires a lot of energy. For me, rowing is over. I'll go and see my mates, but I won't be competing any more."

The end of rowing coincides with the start of the Orient Express Racing Team adventure for Germain, whose sailing experience is limited to a few Optimist initiations and a sail in a Class40 when he was part of the SNCF Athletes scheme.

"Thibaut Verhoeven, with whom I did a lot of rowing, told me about the fitness tests he was going to take to become a cyclist in the team. We talked about it several times. It made me want to do it straight away. Initially, my wife wasn't too keen because with two children it wasn't easy to organise," he confides. Once he had passed the tests, Germain decided to give it a go and he was soon immersed in the world of top-level sailing.

"I'm very happy to have joined the team. I'm a man of challenges and the America's Cup is a great challenge, with a very technical side. I know it's going to be tough, and that we're going to have to give it our all. I think we're going to get a shock when we actually get on the boat. It's very exciting, it's worth it and I'm delighted to be investing 200% in this project. I didn't know Quentin before, but he's a real competitor, and I'm in tune with his vision".

For the time being Germain, who still lives in the Basque country, juggles his professional commitments with training in Barcelona, which is not always easy. "I continue to work full time and also train four or five hours a day when I'm at home. I adapt as much as I can to reconcile everything, without forgetting my family life. It's not easy without the status of top-level sportsman at the moment, but we're getting there," says the sailor who can't wait to start sailing aboard the AC75 next spring.

Date of birth: 15 May 1983

Place of birth: Verdun

Motto: Don’t miss out!

A specific memory of the America's Cup: "I followed the America's Cup a little, but not in the same passionate way as other competitions like the Route du Rhum or the Transat Jacques Vabre. In fact, I even took part in the Route du Rhum on Virtual Regatta, but I wasn't any good. I don't have any precise memories of the competition, but I'd say that for the moment it's being in Barcelona, every day that I spend here discovering the world of sailing". 

What the America's Cup means to you: "I don't necessarily measure what it is. There's always a different degree of representation. Some people talk about the grail, the technological challenge. For me, it's an extraordinary sporting goal, just like a major sporting competition like the Olympic Games or a World Championship, a high-level competition between the other challengers and ourselves.”

After two Olympic campaigns and a highly successful participation in the Red Bull Youth America's Cup, Jason Saunders has joined the Orient Express Racing Team as trimmer on the AC40 and the AC75. It's a dream come true for the New Zealand sailor, whose childhood and teenage years were spent racing in the America's Cup.

Originally from New Zealand's North Island, Jason Saunders began sailing at the age of nine. Although his parents sailed a little for pleasure, it was aboard an old Optimist stored in his grandfather's garage that he made his first tacks. Bitten by the sailing bug he started racing at the Tauranga Yacht & Powerboat Club — "a great club with a good level" — with Peter Burling.

"I love sailing. You get to be outside all the time and it's always changing. No two sails are the same because of the weather. You learn a lot all the time," he said.

P Class, Starling, the 420, Jason quickly moved on to bigger boats before turning to the 470 after a brief stint in the Laser. At the same time, he studied business in Auckland, while prioritising sailing. His good results and an appetite for competition soon led him to travel more and more in Europe, where he took part in several 420 World Championships. He then went on to compete in the 470 with his sights set on the 2012 Olympic Games, where he finished 5th with Paul Snow-Hansen.

"We were 21 years old and had no expectations. Of course we wanted to do well, but we didn't expect to do so well," he recalls.

The following year, he took part in the Red Bull Youth America's Cup in San Francisco with the New Zealand team. It was an experience that gave him his first taste of the America's Cup. "I discovered the world of the Cup. We saw the New Zealanders working and sailing on the big boats. It was really interesting. We had a very good team. We put in a great performance and we were happy," he says.

Buoyed by his victory in the Red Bull Youth America's Cup, Jason returned for another Olympic campaign, this time in the Nacra 17 at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games with Gemma Jones. "We were well prepared. I had higher expectations than in 2012 because I knew we had what it took to be on the podium. It wasn't far off because we finished just a few points behind the frontrunners. It took me a long time to come to terms with the fact that we finished 4th,” he admits.

In 2016 Jason left his native country for France, where he joined his partner Manon Audinet in La Rochelle. There, he learnt French and took part in a series of regattas in France, including the Tour Voile, while embarking on a new Olympic programme. Despite some good results in the Nacra 17, including 4th place in the World Championship in 2017, he threw in the towel in 2019.

"I was a bit disgusted with sailing. I spent almost a year without sailing. It takes a lot of energy to prepare for the Olympics one after the other, and I didn't have enough to embark on another project at that point," he said. Despite this, Jason set himself new challenges, not the least of which was to complete an Ironman, which he did in New Zealand with his brother in 2021.

That same year, he made his return to SailGP, replacing his compatriot Blair Tuke at two events as part of the New-Zealand SailGP Team.

"Peter Burling asked me if I could stand in for Blair during the Tokyo Olympics, where they were both competing in the 49er class. I then did a SailGP with the Americans. I learnt a lot sailing an F50. It's a completely different boat to the ones I used to sail, with rigid wings, lots of hydraulics, electronics and data. It's great to be able to analyse the data from the other teams. The answers are there, you just have to find them. I really loved it. In the Olympics, you don't get to analyse the sailing. That's what I was missing. If you work hard, you can only get better".

On the strength of this experience, he began sailing with Team Tilt in the GC32 class, before joining the Swiss SailGP team. Last September, he joined the France SailGP Team, with Manon Audinet, among others. "We've always sailed against each other. It's great to be able to sail with her and see how she behaves on a boat. We're pretty proud to be doing SailGP together," adds the man who now lives in Barcelona with his partner and son.

Immediately afterwards, Jason joined the Orient Express Racing Team. It's a dream come true for him. "The America's Cup is part of New Zealand's history. I have lots of memories of the competition. I used to watch the regattas at home, on my way home from school, and I dreamed of taking part one day. I'm also very happy to have joined the French project, which is performing very well. It gives me the means to progress and the opportunity to sail some incredible boats. A lot of the sailors in each team are Olympians. It's great to see them again."

When he's not aboard the AC40, Jason still does a bit of wingfoiling and goes trekking and cycling with Manon. And he spends a lot of time with his son. 

His best memory of the America's Cup: "New Zealand's victory over the Italians in 2000. I followed it all the way. There was a great atmosphere. Everyone had bought red socks to support the team. The whole country was behind it, even those who don't usually follow sailing."

His motto: "You deserve what you get in life. I'm a bit of a believer in karma. If you do something right, if you're good or kind, opportunities will come your way. I'm lucky, but I think it's deserved."

Born into a family of great sailors, Kevin Peponnet distinguished himself in the 470 class before joining his friend Quentin Delapierre in the France SailGP Team as a wing trimmer. Today the Basque sailor, co-skipper of the AC40 and AC75 for the Orient Express Racing Team, is realising his dream by taking part in the America's Cup.

For the Peponnets, sailing is a family affair. "My father, Daniel, was in the French Sailing Team. He took part in numerous international competitions and won several European Championship titles in the 470 class. My uncle, Thierry, is the one with the best record, with two Olympic medals to his name, including one gold. He also took part in two America's Cup campaigns. For the record, all three of us raced 470s!” he said.

So it's hardly surprising that he started competing at an early age. Originally from Socoa in the Basque country, he started sailing at the age of six out of the Basque Yacht Club, where he learned his trade.

"At the time, I played a lot of tennis and did a lot of surfing. I alternated between surfing and sailing, but at some point I had to choose. My father probably influenced my choice, but I have no regrets," he added. Kevin started out in the Optimist and won several French Championship titles before following the classic dinghy racing route. He soon started sailing with a crew, initially in 420s, and eventually left his native Basque country aged 16 for La Rochelle.

In France, he attended a sports studies high school, then the Pôle France in the 470 class: "That's where I really got hooked. With Julien Lebrun, my team-mate, we quickly achieved some good results, including a French Championship title and a European Junior Championship. I won a bronze medal at another European Championship with another team-mate."

Just as they were about to move up to the Senior class, Kevin's team-mate decided to concentrate on his studies. Kevin tried to find another team-mate, but to no avail and so he turned to other projects.

"I did a season in the J80 fleet and that's where I met Quentin (Delapierre). We were on two different boats, but we shared the same house at a European Championship that he won. We got on really well. We're the same age. Every year, we took part in the French Match Racing and Collective Fleet Championship, which I won several times, including a final against Quentin, Corentin Horeau and Matthieu Salomon in 2014. It really annoyed them!”

That same summer, they joined forces and took part in the SB20 World Championship in Saint Petersburg. They finished third. It was the start of a great partnership and a great friendship. "We went on to do four years of Tour Voile together. We won the first one as amateurs, then the second one overall, before underperforming the following year then winning it again in 2018.” In parallel, they continued to match race. 

At the end of 2017, Jérémie Mion contacted him, he was looking for a helmsman to get back into the Olympics in the 470. The two young men set their sights on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Together they won the World Championship in 2018 and secured several European podium places, including victory at the 2021 European Championship, the last event before the Games.

"That gave us a real boost, but unfortunately we only managed an 11th place in Tokyo. It was a big disappointment. The months that followed were pretty tough, especially as this Olympiad had been postponed because of the pandemic. The titles were a bonus, but our goal was an Olympic medal."

In Enoshima, Kevin and Quentin once again shared the same room. "We were talking about SailGP. We thought it would be great to have the opportunity to sail these boats one day. A few months later, he was contacted."

At the start of Season 3 the opportunity arose for Kevin, who replaced Leigh McMillan as wing trimmer on the French F50. "I was back for another Olympiad with Aloïse Retornaz, as the 470 had become mixed crew. We were crowned French Champions and finished on the podium at the World Cup in Palma de Mallorca. On a personal note, I was about to become a father. We decided to put an end to our Olympic preparation. It wasn't an easy decision to make, especially as the Games are to be held in France. I think that next summer I'll have a little twinge in my heart, but I don't regret it at all. I pinch myself every morning, we're living a dream, a crazy experience.”

A graduate of INSA (National Institute of Applied Sciences), which he started in Rennes and finished in Lyon, Kevin, who trained as a materials engineer, has a real passion for science and enjoys "manipulating numbers". It's a passion that serves him well in his day-to-day career as a sailor, particularly in the development of the AC75, given that the boats are "packed with sensors" and that sailing is "above all a mechanical sport".

"The Cup is a technological and mechanical challenge before being a human challenge. It's often said that the best team on a boat that doesn't perform well will never win the Cup, but on the other hand, a team of motivated young people on the best performing boat can win it.”

Kevin has always continued to work alongside his sailing career. He worked for Incidences for a year and a half in La Rochelle, then for SNCF in Marseille when he went to join Jérémie Mion for their Olympic preparation.

"I joined the SNCF athlete scheme as a network engineer. I've always thought it was good not just to be sailing, but to have other interests and to put my degree to good use.” Kevin now lives in Barcelona with his partner and their 15-month-old son, whose godfather is Quentin Delapierre. 

What's your motto? 

It's at the end of the fair that you count the dung! 

What does the America's Cup mean to you? 

It's a dream! We talk about it at every family dinner. I'd get stars in my eyes when I'd ask my uncle to tell me about his Olympic medals, the decisive races, the intensity of an America's Cup campaign, to explain to me what it's like to be part of a great team. I was lulled by these stories. I assumed that if you wanted to do SailGP or the Cup, you first had to win an Olympic medal. That's why I became an Olympian. For me, it was a step. I didn't win a medal, but in the end the opportunity presented itself. It's a dream come true, and as part of a French team what's more. 

What is your fondest memory of the America's Cup? 

I have two. The first is quite old, but I'll always remember it: the 32nd America's Cup in Valencia, the one with the most challenges. My uncle was helmsman of the French Challenge. He invited us to the Areva base. My eyes were full of stars. That's where I met Stephan Kandler. But the one that most symbolises my motto was 2013. The Americans made a comeback in San Francisco against the New Zealanders. They won 9-8 after trailing 8-1. I was going crazy in front of my screen!

Matthieu Vandame joined the Orient Express Racing Team as a trimmer, bringing with him a wealth of experience on a wide range of boats. It's a great opportunity for the sailor who is also the grinder onboard the France SailGP F50.   

Matthieu Vandame discovered sailing at the Cataschool in Larmor-Baden (Morbihan). He was 11 years old. At the end of the course, the instructor entered "fine helmsman" on his FFVoile logbook.

"The condition for joining the club was to have a boat, as there were none available. My father had bought a similar catamaran for my brother to start with, so I was able to join the Cataschool that way!" said Matthieu.

There he rubbed shoulders with a whole group of highly competitive youngsters. Among them were Matthieu Souben and François Morvan, with whom he sailed for 15 years consecutively. Together, they made their debut at the French Espoir Championships in the KL 15.5, which they won in 1998.

"We moved up to the Hobbie Cat 16 and finished third at the Mondial Senior a year later.” The duo then turned to the Tornado, with Matthieu continuing in the crew position. "We were too young. The FFVoile required us to pass our baccalaureate before we could enter this Olympic series, even though we had better results than our friends who went on to the Olympics. We did a lot of Tornado with the French Youth Team. We were starting to get close to making the French National team, but then the IOC dropped the class for London 2012."

In 2005, François was injured when they were due to do a major training session in Cadiz. "He wasn't able to sail for six months. We tried to do the best we could when he came back, but it wasn't easy. So I decided to take my exams to become a schoolteacher the following year, to be financially independent. I passed in just a few months and settled in Rennes."

In 2012 he teamed up with Olivier Backes and the two men won the World Championship in a Phantom.

"We won everything before the arrival of the Nacra 17 at the Games. As this was a mixed class, we couldn't continue together." So Matthieu teamed up with Audrey Ogereau and together, they won a silver medal at the ISAF World Championship in December 2014.

"We had some good results. We were pretty fast, but Billy (Besson) and Marie (Riou) dominated the series and there was only one place for the Olympics."

The time had come for him to turn the page on the Nacra 17. He continued school teaching and in 2015, the Tour Voile switched to Diam 24s.

"At the time I was the model crew member for this type of boat. I had several offers, but I chose Spindrift, where I met up with François Morvan, Yann Guichard and Xavier Revil, who had all come from the Tornado class. It was a big project, with a lot of resources."

That same year he won the Tour Voile and other regattas. At the end of the year Franck Cammas, with him previously on the French Nacra 17 team, suggested he take some physical tests. Two days later, he was hired by the Groupama Sailing Team for the America's Cup which was held in Bermuda in 2017. At the same time, he was responsible for Groupama's GC32 project and sailed on board.

"I stayed with Groupama until the summer of 2017. It was a great experience. It was interesting to work with Franck, who is very relevant and is always asking questions. A Cup project requires a huge amount of investment and time and has a big impact from a family point of view, but I was lucky enough to be able to do it. We won two races, which is a pretty good result given that the other teams had a budget at least five times bigger.”

At the end of 2017 Cammas wanted to launch a Cup project, but it never came to fruition. At the same time Mathieu met Thomas Coville and joined Team Sodebo in 2018, while continuing to sail GC32s with Cammas.

"I sailed quite a bit with Sodebo, right up to the Jules Verne Trophy attempt at the end of 2019, early 2020. This offshore experience on a big boat was great. The project was really interesting and we won Nice UltiMed in 2018."

He then moved on to TF35 racing with Billy Besson and François Morvan on Ylliam XII Comptoir Immobilier, before joining the France SailGP Team when Besson asked him to help set up the team for the 2019 season. After a first season as a wing trimmer, he moved into the grinder position in 2021 following the covid crisis. "We managed quite a few good races after Quentin Delapierre arrived and won a few too.” 

While continuing his role as grinder for the France SailGP Team, Matthieu joined Orient Express Racing Team at the start of the project.

"The Cup project with Groupama was the best I'd ever done. I said yes because it's still a great experience although it's a year and a half project, shorter than the last one.”

When you're the father of two children, it's not always easy to reconcile a sporting project with family life: "My partner is a history and geography teacher in Rennes and hasn't been able to take time off, given the late start to the project. We're trying to arrange for them to come to Barcelona during the school holidays. I'll also be coming back from time to time at the weekend when it's possible."

When he's not sailing, Matthieu spends time with his family. "I try to spend as much time as possible with my children, accompanying them to their activities. My daughter Nina, who is 15, does a lot of kayaking at the Pôle France. My son Alec, who is eight, loves sport and does all sorts of activities. He's tried kayaking, which is an outdoor sport like sailing, and does a bit more basketball. I try to give them their freedom and support them in their choices.

"My days are also punctuated by physical preparation. I do quite a bit when I'm at home. I don't really feel like sailing when I get home. I just want to sit on the sofa and spend time with my family."

Naturally enthusiastic and highly motivated, Maxime Guyon from Finistère became the first Frenchman in history to be crowned World Crossfit Champion in 2021. A few years later and he is competing in his first ever America’s Cup competition as a cyclor on the Orient Express Racing Team AC75. 

Sailing was not really part of Maxime’s world growing up, and the America’s Cup was not on his radar. As a child, he attended a few regattas during the holidays, including Spi Ouest-France and the Route du Rhum, but he opted for football, followed by martial arts and boxing.

"I watched it all from a distance, neither as a specialist nor as an enthusiast, but subconsciously perhaps I acquired a taste for it!” Born in Rennes, he left Brittany and moved around a lot as his parents took up new jobs. Later his own job led him to travel all over the country: "I passed the Gendarmerie exam during my military service, and I worked as a gendarme for 22 years all over France”. During his career, he took up the opportunity to go back to school and added an accountancy degree to his Palmarès. Finally in 2021, he retired from the police force. "The planets were aligned, it was the right time. I'd done the rounds of the jobs that interested me in policing, and I was finding it harder to project myself into the future.” 

Alongside his career, Maxime reached national level in taekwondo before switching to the combat sports unit where he worked. Passionate about sport, he also enjoys paragliding and speed flying, surfing, and bodyboarding, too. "I had problems with my martial arts timetable because, with my schedule, it wasn't easy to find partners very early in the morning or very late at night. I didn't do much competition because I preferred to devote myself to my job, which was very demanding and interesting.” Nonetheless he soon made a shift to CrossFit: "It gave me the same intensity of exercise, with the independence I needed from my work. And it enabled me to perform well in my professional field, where you had to be clear-headed enough to execute a fine movement. I had important decisions to make, weapon in hand". 

Five years after discovering CrossFit, he became the first Frenchman to win the world title in the discipline, which opened his eyes to other horizons. "I came across a performance coaching course and was really interested in understanding how we can help people to achieve their goals mentally and support them in their approach. It's a very rewarding field that's been underestimated for years, but it's starting to develop. It was in line with the mindset I had in the gendarmerie and made me want to take the plunge.” 

He signed up, and during the course which happened to take place at the École Nationale de Voile et des Sports Nautiques (ENVSN), Maxime met Bruno Dubois. 

"He told us all about flying boats, new races with a much more intense and faster format than offshore races, and also about the America's Cup. I was an instant fan. When I heard him talk about it, I said to myself that I would do anything to take part if the opportunity arose one day.” A few months later, the dream became reality. Maxime passed the selection tests and joined Orient Express Racing Team. It was a real turning point in the sporting career of a man whose sailing experience was limited to a little Optimist and 420 sailing, as well as some 'pleasure' sailing in Brittany and kitesurfing. 

"I stopped doing CrossFit because I'm a goal-oriented person and I want to give 100% of myself to the Cup, and to do that you have to be rigorous and disciplined". Based in Pont-L'Abbé in the Bigouden region, Maxime, who is married with three children, trains four to five hours a day. He does cycling sessions, he works on endurance, explosiveness, mobility, muscle strengthening and overall strength. "We are developing qualities that are closer to the needs of a boat, not those of a road or track cyclist. We take a global approach to training, with relaxation sessions afterwards. We also pay attention to our diet. There's a whole range of things to work on," he explains. "I have a diploma in physical and mental preparation. That allows me to be independent and understand what's going on. And then of course I can contact Kilian if I need to." 

Date of birth: 29 August 1978 

Place of birth: Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine) 

His motto: "Alone we go fast, together we go further”.

Best memory of the America's Cup: "I haven't followed the previous editions, but I've watched quite a few reports and I've done a lot of research since I was selected. So, I'd have to say Australia II's victory over the Americans in 1983. They revolutionised things with the fin keel that they kept secret until the last moment. They had an engineer who thought outside the box and managed to innovate.”

What the America's Cup means to him: "It's something great, something incredible, the oldest trophy in the world. And it's my next goal, even if I never thought I'd be able to take part one day. It's also a team challenge in the broadest sense: the shore team, the sailors, the engineers who have been working for months, even years, and the whole team around them. It's great to see the collective momentum building. It increases motivation tenfold. I've worked in a team for 22 years. I've lived through some very intense, extreme situations. When it's a matter of life and death, you must be able to rely on your team. It's a bit like what you experience on a boat, the same cohesion. You have to trust your team-mates 100%.”

A great match race specialist, this is not Olivier Herlédant's first America's Cup. The native of Brittany is preparing to take part in the prestigious competition for the third time in his career, as a cyclist aboard the AC75 Orient Express Racing Team. 

Born in Concarneau, Olivier Herlédant did not grow up with his feet in the water or in a sailing family. Following his parents' divorce he moved to the Paris region. He was barely five years old. He first discovered sport through basketball "because he was tall" and school handball, before taking up sailing at the age of six.

"I used to spend my summers in Concarneau. My father had taken up sailing and bought a small cruising boat. We used to go away to Les Glénans at the weekend," says Olivier, who discovered competitive sailing late in life, during his secondary school years. Olivier took part in around 10 regattas before his 20th birthday, including the Trophée des Lycées and the French UNSS Laser Championship, as well as some winter training on cruisers with his club in Concarneau. He then put sailing on hold during his two years of preparatory classes, which he did in Paris. It wasn't until he arrived in Nantes, where he enrolled at the École Centrale, that his career as a sailor really began.

"I did my first weekend of sailing in Pornichet with the school's sailing section at the APPC. After that, they asked me to come back for some tests with Mathieu Richard's match race crew, who were looking for a helmsman of my size. It went well. They trained me because I hadn't done the high level course," he says.

This was followed by around 15 years of match racing and Tour Voile events with Mathieu Richard. Along the way, he added two runner-up world championship titles to his list of achievements. Olivier didn't neglect his studies, however, and did a PhD in fluid mechanics at the École Centrale de Nantes at the end of his engineering studies. His thesis, which offered him the flexibility of racing on the side postponed the inevitable choice of whether to pursue a career in his field of expertise or devote himself to sailing.

"I was able to spread out my thesis over time, which enabled me to take part in my first America's Cup in 2007 with China Team, the former French team that became Chinese. It was a great project for young people like us in sporting terms, even if it wasn't up to the standard of the other French project. It was a great first experience. We had a lot of responsibility," he says.

Olivier also continued to race on the World Match Racing Tour. "We were among the best in the world. We had a very stable crew, a hard core of four or five people around Mathieu, supplemented by a few people with diverse profiles who brought us their freshness and experience."

When Richard decided to devote himself to coaching in 2015, Olivier was looking for a new project and did a Tour Voile with Jérémie Beyou the year the Diam 24 arrived, before making his return to the America's Cup.

"In the autumn, Franck Cammas, who was looking for a grinder for his America's Cup project with Groupama, called me. We spent nearly two years sailing together, until the end of the project in 2017. It allowed me to move up to a different level compared to the Chinese project, with Franck as the driving force. It was really impressive and rewarding to see how he moved the boat forward and thought things through. His very Cartesian approach appealed to me, and I really got into it," added Olivier, whose experience of multihull racing had been limited to a few ORMA experiences with Bertrand de Broc.

After the America's Cup in Bermuda, Olivier had a quiet period before getting back to work on the Norauto GC32 project, again with Cammas. "We continued foiling together for a season and a half. At the time, it was the most competitive fleet in foiling, so it was rewarding," he says.

While that adventure came to an end in 2019, a new chapter opened for Olivier on the SailGP circuit as a grinder, first with Billy Besson then with Quentin Delapierre. The arrival of Delapierre two years ago has breathed new life into the French team, with a new mindset and new working methods.

"SailGP combines what I like best and what has been the foundation of my career: America's Cup technology and one-design sailing. It's great to be able to compete on equal terms in the Formula 1s of the seas. The F50s are slightly improved versions of the old Cup boats, easier to handle, more reliable and faster. We're really enjoying sailing them." On the race circuit, his ability to analyse data with a certain scientific distance is a considerable asset for the France SailGP Team.

When he heard about the Orient Express Racing Team project, however, Olivier wasn't sure he'd fit in. "What worried me was my physical capacity. The team had already made progress on the roles at the front-end of the boat and on the power generators. But having the best wattage isn't everything. You also have to manage how you use the consumption of energy produced by the cyclists. I hope to be able to compensate for what I don't contribute in terms of wattage by doing something else," says the man who has embarked on an adapted physical preparation programme, which is more complete and demanding than his job as a grinder on SailGP.

When he's not training, Olivier, who still lives in Kerlaz (Finistère), works on the AC40 data. The aim is to immerse himself in the project and be ready as soon as the team receives its AC75. He also spends time with his family, his wife and daughters, to whom he has passed on the sailing bug, "even if they prefer leisure sailing". He also enjoys gardening and tinkering around the house, and going fishing and cruising when his busy schedule allows. 

Date of birth: 4 July 1980

Place of birth: Concarneau, France

His motto: "Herlédant: the knife between your teeth".

What the America's Cup means to him: "It resonated without really knowing what it was – the grail of sailing. I remember seeing a report during my preparatory classes about the French team competing in the Cup in the 2000s. I still remember it. When I had the opportunity to get closer to it and take part, I jumped at it. It was a dream.

A specific memory of the America's Cup: "The match we won in 2017 against the Swedes (Artemis Racing). That's one of the top-three greatest sporting joys of my career, because they were stronger than us on paper. They had a bigger budget than us and they took longer to prepare. They sailed a lot better than us, but we managed to raise our game, each in our own position, and did the best we could. I kept a record of my heart rate during that race! Everyone gave it their all. It was the first match we'd ever won, and it was a relief to be able to offer a victory to the technical team, the engineers and the communications team."

A rising star on the international sailing scene, Quentin Delapierre has established himself as one of the finest racers of his generation. The sailor from Vannes in France will be at the helm of the Orient Express AC75 at the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona in 2024. It is a rare opportunity and a great accolade for a sailor who is as talented as he is determined.

Son of champion windsurfer Jean-Philippe Delapierre, Quentin has been immersed in the world of competition ever since he was a child. He started sailing at the age of six at the Cataschool in Larmor Baden. He discovered a real passion for the sport that he describes as: “subject to the elements and which gives you a sense of gliding.” In parallel he took up fencing, football and tennis from time to time. “I had to choose between fencing and sailing. I had a good level in both disciplines, but I opted for sailing because every sail is different. You can rediscover your sport every day and have fun. It didn't take me long to decide that I wanted to do it for a living," he admitted. The all-round sportsman also enjoys cycling, wing foiling and mountain sports.

Having started out on a sports catamaran, Quentin launched his Olympic career and joined Pôle France in Brest campaigning the Laser. An ankle injury hindered his ascent, but never one to sit on his hands, the young sailor pivoted and embarked on a Masters in Sports Management which led him to join Team Sodebo as head of the Sodebo Ultim performance unit in 2014. His experience alongside Jean-Luc Nélias taught him a great deal, particularly in terms of data analysis. “My experience and my feelings as an athlete helped me to ask myself the right questions in order to find the data that would enable us to make rapid progress.”

Meanwhile Quentin continued to race and set up several projects, first in the J80 class where he won the European title in 2014. He then turned to match racing and the Tour de France à la Voile from 2015 to 2018 with Kevin Peponnet. Once again, success came with two victories – 2016 and 2018 – out of four campaigns. “After that, Kevin went back to the Olympics in the 470, which made me want to go back,” he said. “An opportunity came up in the Nacra 17 class when Manon Audinet decided to change helmsman.” The duo quickly found their feet and made rapid progress, winning the World Cup just a year after joining forces. This led to being selected for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. They finished 4th in the World Championships, took Silver in the European Championships the same year, but were disappointed with an 8th place at the Olympics. The result fell short of the target Quentin had set himself and he took time to reflect and analyse what had gone wrong, a necessary step for him to bounce back and enjoy sailing again.

In autumn 2021 his career took a new turn when Bruno Dubois invited him to helm the F50 in the France SailGP Team. It was a great challenge considering that France was last in the rankings at the time. A year and a half later, and with two victories under his belt, Quentin is proud of the work accomplished by the whole team. 

Quentin will also be the helmsman onboard the Orient Express AC75 for the America’s Cup – a childhood dream come true. “The Olympics and the Cup thrilled me as a child. I watched it with stars in my eyes. There's something magical about the America's Cup. It's the oldest sporting trophy in the world and the boats are magnificent. I got it into my head that I had to perform on the SailGP circuit to have a chance of being selected. I've always done everything I can to make my dreams come true,” he explained. And now he has. “It's a great source of pride and a big responsibility. There's real ambition and energy in this team, which we need to build on. Today, I'm exactly where I wanted to be when I was a kid. It's up to me to do well and perform well.” His dream is to one day add the name of his country, France, to the list of winners in this prestigious competition.

At 31, Quentin has already ticked off several things on his bucket list, but he’s not closing any doors for the future. “Close quarters racing is what thrills me the most. I love the intensity, with lots of boat-on-boat action in a restricted area. But ocean racing also appeals to me. And if one day I can win an Olympic medal, I wouldn't rule out going back". No surprises there when you consider Quentin’s atypical career path, his many sea miles, and drive for performance and winning. “Changing boats often allows you to learn to adapt your reactions, as each boat is different. It avoids falling into a rut and always looking for the same type of settings. It also allows you to come back with a fresh and new perspective," added the skipper who cannot wait for the America’s Cup to start to unleash his quest for performance.

Results in brief

SAILGP HIGHLIGHTS

- 2023: Winner Australia Sail Grand Prix, Sydney

- 2022: 2nd Dubai Sail Grand Prix

- 2022: Winner Spain Sail Grand Prix, Cadiz

- 2022: 2nd Denmark Sail Grand Prix

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

- 2022: Vice World Champion, GC32

- 2019: Winner World Cup ENOSHIMA, Nacra 17

- 2022: 2nd World Championship, GC32

- 2018: Winner Tour de France à la Voile, Diam 24

- 2018: Winner Nice Ultimed Sodebo Ultim

- 2016: Winner Tour de France à la Voile, Diam 24

- 2014: European Champion J8O

- 2017: Winner Croatia Match Cup, M32

- 2020: 2nd European Championship, Nacra 17

- 2021: 8th 2020 Olympic Games, Nacra 17

- 2020: 4th World Championship Geelong, Nacra 17

- 2014: Podium World Championship, Laser SB20 

Born in Vannes (Morbihan - France) on 17 July 1992.

Rémi Verhoeven is passionate about sport in all its forms and a talented competitor in many of them. A rower and road cyclist, he enjoys pushing himself to the max, and is now embarking on a new sporting and human adventure as a cyclor onboard the Orient Express Racing Team AC75.

Hailing from Villeneuve-sur-Lot in the Lot-et-Garonne, Rémi Verhoeven took his first sporting steps on a rugby pitch. "I started when I was very young. It was a bit of a family tradition, I used to play on Wednesday afternoons and Saturdays," described Rémi, who also tried his hand at football, swimming and basketball before taking up rowing at the age of 13. By 14, he was on the National Junior and then Senior rowing teams and competed in the French Youth Championships and the World Espoirs Championships in parallel to his studies, up until the age of 21. 

He joined a sports study programme at high school and then the Pôle Espoir in Bergerac as a junior before moving to Bordeaux to study industrial electrical engineering. In parallel, he continued to compete achieving good results with his club including a place in the final of the 2010/11 French Espoirs Championship. Armed with a degree, he went home and took a break from rowing. "It was difficult to continue to develop in this sport because of the lack of media exposure, it was complicated from a financial point of view," he said. Rémi focused on his career and took up amateur cycling a year later. "I considered trying triathlons, but thought I'd try cycling first. I was attracted by the individual performance aspect. I got hooked, kept going and climbed the ranks, until I was doing a few regional and national races at Elite level without being one! It was a real pleasure to take part in competitions at a fairly high level as an amateur, while juggling a professional life on the side".

With Orient Express Racing Team, Rémi is taking a new direction and is approaching the challenge with enthusiasm. "Kilian contacted my brother Thibaut first, who told me about the opportunity. As he was looking for quite different profiles, we spoke on the phone and he suggested I come to Quiberon for a day to take the selection tests. It's a real pleasure and an honour to have been selected and to have joined a team of this calibre. The America's Cup is a massive event." Rémi like many of the cyclors sailed for the first time at the Ecole Nationale de Voile et des Sports Nautiques (ENVSN) in Quiberon last spring. "I come from inland, so sailing is not a discipline we know much about, although of course I had seen photos and videos. I knew that the America's Cup existed, but I never thought it would be possible to join a team as a cyclist!"

While he will continue to race his road bike to honour the commitments made to his club, Rémi is now training more specifically for the America's Cup. He enjoys the pleasures of everyday life with family and friends when he's not training. 

Date of birth: 17 October 1989 

Place of birth: Villeneuve-sur-Lot

His motto: "I don't have a motto, but what's important to me is respect, trust and human values.” 

A specific memory of the America's Cup: "I'm going to create those memories over the coming months.”

What the America's Cup means to you: "It's a real challenge, a long-term team effort. You must be good in your position, put a lot of commitment into it and perform at your best. It's cohesion that keeps the team at the level it needs to be.”

Originally from Villeneuve-sur-Lot in the South-West of France, Thibaut Verhoeven started his sporting career — like most young men in the South-West — playing rugby. He quickly transitioned to rowing and spent 10 years competing at a high level with his fellow Orient Express Racing Team cyclor, Germain Chardin, in Nancy. A competitor at heart, he is delighted to have come out of retirement to take up the role of cyclor on board the French AC75! 

Thibaut played a lot of sport as a child and as per tradition in the South-West, he started with rugby. "I loved it, but then I discovered rowing thanks to my brother Rémi, who had taken it up a year before me. I joined the club when I was 14. I really enjoyed it and the results followed," said Thibaut, who plunged straight into competing. "I got hooked straight away. I was competitive, I liked racing. I threw myself wholeheartedly into it, first with the Juniors, then the Espoirs, before joining the French Team and the Elite”.

He packed his bags and moved to Nancy, where he joined a training centre. At the Cercle Nautique Verdunois, he made new friends, including Chardin, his "greatest lifelong friend" with whom he is preparing to compete in the America's Cup with Orient Express Racing Team. With little interest in studying, he dropped out of school as soon as he could and took a vocational training course in tiling to work part-time in the building trade.

Following 10 years and "some honourable results, but not a medal” in a major competition, and after narrowly missing out on qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Thibaut decided to stop rowing. "It had been a complicated year in terms of training because of the pandemic, and I was the first not to qualify. It's a shame to stop there, but it's a reflection of that phase of my career. I never really managed to get anywhere. I was never far from victory, but I was never lucky, the little thing that makes you fall on the right side. I still had the power, but I didn't believe in it anymore,” he said.

Thibault returned home with his partner, a former top-level rower, with whom he planned to start a family. It was a project they put on hold, however, because shortly after their move, Thibaut was contacted by Kilian Philippe, who suggested he take the selection tests to become a cyclor with the Orient Express Racing Team. "I never thought I'd be able to go back to the top level, and even less so in a sport that's not at all my own. It's a great opportunity, a big challenge. And it's incredibly lucky to be able to take part in this impressive competition in a discipline that is not your own. The team is great and I'm really happy. I hope we'll be able to do some great things together." 

He has never sailed before but got a glimpse of the sport at the 2016 Olympic Games. "I did my first training course in Quiberon in a Birdy Fish. It was impressive, even though the boat is small and we're a long way from what lies ahead, but it was a good taster”. Right now, Thibaut is training at home with his brother Rémi, also a cyclor with the team. "We're sticking together. As we don't live far from each other, we can go to the gym together and do road cycling together. We prepare on a daily basis to be at the top of our game when we need to be and to ensure that the team performs well. We don't really know what's in store for us, but it's going to happen quickly, so we have to be ready.”

Date of birth: 26 August 1992

Place of birth: Villeneuve-sur-Lot

Specific memories of the America's Cup: "I don't really have any because I never followed the competition. I just knew that it doesn't take place every year. But since I knew I was going to do the next one, I've been following the AC40 team and SailGP. I'm also trying to understand a bit how it works, the tactics, the decisions...".

What the America's Cup means to him: "It's a great competition. As a top sportsman and competitor, you dream of taking part in the America's Cup.”

Born into a family of top sportsmen and women, Timothé Lapauw is a true competitor at heart. With a wealth of experience in crewing, whether in match racing or on flying boats, he joined the Orient Express Racing Team adventure from the outset as a cyclist. A childhood dream come true for the youngest of the sailors.  

Born on the island of Réunion, Timothé Lapauw moved to Metropolitan France, near Antibes, at the age of five. From childhood, he was immersed in top-level sport. "My grandfather took part in the Olympic Games three times in hockey, and could have taken part five times if it hadn't been for the Second World War. He went on to coach the Stade Français and the French national team. My grandmother was in the Belgian national hockey team," says the man whose father campaigned several Olympic preparations in the 470 during the time of Thierry Peponnet, Kevin's uncle. "My mother also played hockey, and my sister was in the French synchronised swimming team," he adds. So it's hardly surprising that he's also keen to compete.  

Although he did a bit of rugby, he chose sailing after discovering the Optimist with his father at the Société des Régates d'Antibes at the age of seven. Tim, who "grew up very quickly and developed a size that was too big for the Optimist", soon switched to match racing.

Seduced by the crewed format, he found his calling and won three French Amateur Championship titles in the South of France, where he sailed from the age of 12 to 18. At the same time, he followed a traditional school curriculum before entering the STAPS programme in Nice. At the time, he was sailing with other young sailors from the south of France, including Robin Follin, with whom he finished 5th in the World Youth Championships in 2015. "We were all contacted by professional teams afterwards. I hit the jackpot when I joined Alinghi, who were looking for a young person under 25 to race GC32s," he explains. The adventure, which "taught him about life", lasted almost eight years.  

Winner of the Extreme Sailing Series in 2016, he got busier and busier, passing Groupama Team France's selections for the 2015 Red Bull Youth America's Cup with Robin Follin with flying colours, and winning the Youth and Amateur rankings on the Tour Voile in 2016 with Team France Jeunes. In 2017, he took part in training sessions in Brittany aboard the French AC45 with Franck Cammas, Olivier Herledant and Matthieu Vandame. A break that enabled him to gain valuable experience aboard the boats that served as the basis for the SailGP F50s. Tim went on to enjoy a string of good performances and victories. Winner of the Extreme Sailing Series with Alinghi in 2018, he won the 80th edition of the Bol d'Or Mirabaud aboard the Décision 35 Mobimo with Thierry Douillard, before being crowned GC32 World Champion in 2019. 

Timothé then continued to gain experience on flying boats, including the TF35, before joining the the France SailGP Team as a grinder. Alongside this, he continued to sail GC32s until the Swiss team decided to make a comeback in the America's Cup. Tim, "in the good books of the Swiss", had hoped to take part in the competition with Alinghi, but the nationality rule decided otherwise.

"As a foreigner, the condition for taking part was either to have lived in Switzerland for at least 250 days in the previous year, or to have taken part in the last Cup under the country's colours. We applied for an exemption, but it didn't work out. There were two Frenchmen in the team. Nicolas Charbonnier had an exclusive contract with them, but I didn't as I was sailing SailGP at the same time. It was a bit of a sad moment, but a good page was being turned. At the same time, it was great because it coincided with Quentin joining the France SailGP Team. Following Quentin's arrival, the French team bounced back and found a new dynamic."

Aside from SailGP, Timothé has been involved with Orient Express Racing Team since its inception and immediately began training for his role as a cyclist, which requires "a little more precise preparation than his job as a grinder". According to him, "it's a challenge to prepare for the Cup and to train for SailGP at the same time. You have to be careful not to injure yourself."

Based in Marseille until last summer, Timothé now lives in Barcelona, where he will remain until the end of the America's Cup. What little spare time he has he devotes to his family. He also tries to recharge his batteries in nature, or by paragliding. 

Date of birth: 9 July 1996

Place of birth: Saint-Denis (La Réunion)

His motto: "No victory without determination, no success without will". 

What the America's Cup means to him: "I've been fascinated by the America's Cup since I was a kid. It's a lifelong goal. Some people dream of going to the Olympics or sailing around the world. For me, it's always been the Cup. I went to see the Louis Vuitton Series in Nice when I was a kid. And I grew up with Alinghi. They'd all done the Cup and talked about their memories. I always wanted to take part and win it. In sporting terms, it's the oldest sporting event with the most advanced technology. There are very few disciplines that constantly question themselves so much to advance the sport. The fact that the rules are fairly open allows for monstrous technological advances that can then be applied to the general public." 

A specific memory of the America's Cup: "The arrival of the flying boats in San Francisco in 2012 and the battle between the Americans and the New Zealanders. I remember watching the races with my father on our sofa. We saw some crazy battles on some crazy boats. There was a real renewal in this edition, with faster boats capable of overtaking each other several times during the races."