Zbigniew Gutkowski / ENERGA

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SAILING - VENDEE GLOBE 2012-2013 - PRIZE CEREMONY AND GABART WALK OF FAME - LES SABLES D'OLONNE (FRA) - 11/05/2013 - PHOTO : VIN

Exceptional awards ceremony

Last night evening, on the main beach in Les Sables d’Olonne, François Gabart, the skipper of MACIF received his trophy from the President of the General Council, Bruno Retailleau. As for the ten other skippers who have finished the race,…

IMOCA chooses the boat for the future

The Skippers and Members of IMOCA met in Paris on Thursday 18 and Friday 19 April 2013 at the IMOCA Annual General Meeting to decide the future direction of their class, and in particular to discuss two major subjects: the design of the…

Reception of the Vendée Globe skippers at the Elysée

Monday, April 8 at 12:30 pm, the President of the French Republic received all of the Vendée Globe skippers and handed on this occasion the Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur insignia to François Gabart, winner of this year edition.…

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Replay remise des prix du…

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Les sportifs des Étoiles…

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Ses audios

Wednesday 26 December 2012, 11:27

Wednesday 21 November 2012, 15:42

Live vacation in polish with Zbigniew Gutkowski

Wednesday 21 November 2012, 15:38

Live vacation in english with Zbigniew Gutkowski

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The boat

Zbigniew Gutkowski will race onboard IMOCA Open 60 that was built in 2007 of carbon and nomex. ENERGA, plan Finot/Conq, made a succesful round the world race.

Designer: Finot Conq Design

Construction: Neville Hutton

Launched: June 2007

Length: 18.28 m

Beam: 5.94 m

Draught: 4,50 m

Displacement: 8,5 tons

Mast height: 28 m

Centerboards: 2

Keel blade: Carbon

Sail area upwind: 300 sq metres

Sail area downwind: 550 sq metres

Portrait

Nationality : Polish
Résidence : Gdansk, Pologne
Age : 39
Boat : ENERGA
Website : www.energasailing.pl
Vendée Globe Wins and Performances : First participation.

Zbigniew « Gutek » Gutkowski is the first Polish sailor ever to race solo around the world in an official competition. He finished two races round the globe, one crewed (The Race, 2000) and one solo (VELUX 5 Oceans 2010-11). His outstanding performance in the latter, when he came second after overcoming keel damage and two serious injuries, made him known worldwide. He was awarded Poland's Sailor of the Year trophy for his achievement.

One of Poland's best known and most experienced sailors

He is one of Poland's best known and most experienced sailors with a wealth of offshore and inshore racing. The 39-year-old skipper first honed his talents as a member of the Polish national sailing team, representing his nation in the 470 dinghy class from 1987 to 1995. He also spent several years campaigning state of the art 49er dinghies and was one of the most successful crews in Poland. In 2000 Gutek turned his hand to offshore sailing and that year he was watch captain onboard WARTA-POLPHARMA in The Race, the non-stop race around the world for multihulls. In 2005 he skippered the ORMA 60 Bonduelle in the Nokia Oops Cup. He also attempted to break the monohull record for a non-stop circumnavigation onboard the Volvo 60 Bank BPH (formerly ASSA ABLOY), but damage forced the crew to give up at Cape Town after 9,500 miles.

Gutkowski lives in his native city of Gdansk, Poland, where he was born in 1973. Sailing was his first and favourite sport since he was 10 and nothing changed so far. Taking on the challenge of Vendee Globe is a next step in his sailing career. He knows the game of solo racing; he knows the seamanship and his boat.