Benjamin Dutreux

The breakout star of the 2020 Vendée Globe, Benjamin Dutreux showed his talent and skill by finishing ninth aboard an older-generation IMOCA. In 2024, the skipper from Les Sables d’Olonne delivered another strong Vendée Globe, taking tenth place.

Benjamin Dutreux discovered sailing on the Île d’Yeu, first on family holidays, before moving there in 1999. After starting out on sport catamarans, he made the move to the Figaro. In 2015, he stood out as the top rookie in the French Elite Solo Offshore Racing Championship. An entrepreneur at heart, he co-founded the boat refit company Eole Performance with his brother.

In 2016, he became an ambassador for the Water Family – Du Flocon à la Vague association, and has carried its cause into his sailing projects ever since.

2019 marked a turning point in his career when he acquired the IMOCA Spirit of Yukoh IV, previously sailed by Japan’s Kojiro Shiraishi. Alongside his long-standing boat captain, now technical director, Thomas Cardrin, Benjamin took the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre, where the pair finished 19th. A major refit followed to prepare the boat for the 2020 Vendée Globe. Despite the age of the boat, launched in 2007, Benjamin Dutreux surprised everyone by finishing ninth in the solo round-the-world race, and even led the fleet after Cape Finisterre on 10 November.

In 2021, he shone again in The Ocean Race Europe as part of the Offshore Team Germany crew, winners of the IMOCA class. Between legs, he acquired the IMOCA 11th Hour Racing from American skipper Charlie Enright, which he would take over after the Transat Jacques Vabre. Before that, he raced with Damien Seguin aboard Groupe Apicil, finishing seventh in the Rolex Fastnet Race and eleventh in the Transat Jacques Vabre, first among the straight-daggerboard IMOCAs.

In 2022, Benjamin took the helm of his own IMOCA solo, finishing in the top ten of the Route du Rhum. Two months later, he joined The Ocean Race as skipper of Guyot Environnement – Team Europe. Despite a string of setbacks, including a hull bottom failure, a dismasting and a collision with 11th Hour Racing Team at the start of the final leg, his team finished fifth overall.

After the round-the-world race, Benjamin and his technical team undertook a major redesign of the boat’s bow, one year out from the Vendée Globe. With the support of Corentin Horeau, winner of the Solitaire du Figaro, he raced the end of the 2023 season, finishing tenth in the Transat Jacques Vabre.

At the start of the 2024 Vendée Globe, Benjamin Dutreux, backed by a young but experienced team, lined up on a boat he now knew inside out. After a hard-fought battle around the world, he crossed the finish line in tenth place, a testament to his consistency and resilience.

In 2025, Benjamin raced double-handed with Arnaud Boissières, who bought his IMOCA after the Transat Café L’OR. In October, he launched the construction of a new-generation IMOCA, backed by 4CAD Group as major partner, with the aim of competing for victory in the 2028 Vendée Globe.