Seventh in the 2004-2005 Vendée Globe (aboard Hellomoto), the British sailor Conrad Humphreys has announced his return to solo racing, after several years racing with a crew or on multihulls, including aboard Extreme 40s. For the moment, Conrad has chosen to enter the Figaro circuit. The Plymouth-based sailor has given himself two years to return to the IMOCA circuit with the aim of getting a long-term project together for the 2016-2017 Vendée Globe.
Conrad has been training since last year with the Artemis Academy team – in conjunction with the Mediterranean Training Centre in la Grande Motte – and will be racing in the prestigious Solitaire du Figaro this summer. "The Figaro circuit is one of the best ways a skipper can prepare for the Vendée Globe" said Conrad Humphreys, "The standard of the top racers is impressive and I don’t have any illusions: I’m in it to learn as much as I can", he added modestly.
He is certainly someone who sees projects through: starting out racing Cadets, he was at a very young age a member of the British team, winning two world championship titles at the age of 16 and 17. But Conrad also raced in the 1993-1994 Whitbread and finished in fifth place in the 2004 transatlantic race.
