Young, but with a wealth of experience
The youngest competitor in Class40 in the 2010 Route du Rhum – at the age of just 25 – Louis Burton is also one of the youngest contenders hoping to take part in the 2012 Vendée Globe. Although he has always lived in Paris, Louis acquired a passion for the sea at an early age, when he went sailing with his family in the Morbihan Gulf in Southern Brittany. Attracted to races and the adrenaline rush that gives him, he would soon be competing in events such as the Spi Ouest France and the Edhec Cruising Race.
But Louis was dreaming of solo racing and taking part in the Route du Rhum. He set off at the start of the 2010 race having won his first preparation race, the Antipodes Regatta in the Mediterranean. After getting off to a fine start in the Rhum, the Parisian had quite a fright, when he collided with a trawler in the Azores. But he continued on his way and made it to Pointe-à-Pitre in 20th place.
The young company director, who felt very positive after his first major ocean race, gave himself two goals: he wants to join the IMOCA circuit and set sail in the Vendée Globe on 10th November 2012. At the start of the 2011 Transat Jacques Vabre with his brother Nelson, he sailed his Bureau Vallée (Jérémie Beyou’s former Delta Dore) without feeling any nervousness and grabbed a promising 7th place. He followed this by completing his qualifier for the Vendée Globe in the Transat BToB, in what was his first major solo event in the IMOCA circuit. Another step on his way to the 2012 Vendée Globe?
