Vincent Riou: The Defender
Discreet, genuine, bordering on taciturn, and… frighteningly efficient. The title holder and race record holder (87 days) has up until now had a perfect score in the Vendée Globe: technical coordinator for Michel Desjoyeaux’s PRB, the 2000 winner and above all skipper of PRB in 2004 that as everyone remembers he sailed to victory. That was all it took for Jean Le Cam to label him « Vincent The Terrible.»
Can the lifeboatman from Lesconil repeat the feat and take PRB to a third victory in a row in the Sailing Everest? If this was to be the case, if Vincent Riou led PRB to a new triumph, we would be talking all over again about his titles as French Match Racing champion and aboard a First Class 8, ten years or so ago, and about his campaigns in the Figaro or that famous 1993 Coffee Route, which saw him bring his boat safely home with no help at the age of 21, in spite of an ingress of water.
This formidable sailor and weather expert does not hesitate for a second before becoming a router for the top names. To cut a long story short, Vincent has dealt himself a winning hand, which could allow him to repeat the success he had four years ago. He will be the defender… and therefore the man to beat.
