| Age | 49 (3/15/76) |
|---|---|
| Top performance | 1st rookie in the 2016-17 Vendée Globe |
| Joined Imoca on | 2014 |
| Team | STAND AS ONE |
| Base | Port-La-Forêt (FRANCE) |
| Partners | Altavia, Workday, SAIPOL, GROUPE AVRIL, BFM Business |
| Commitment | STAND AS ONE |
Not only a sailor, but also a writer, film-maker and television columnist, Éric has been promoting the richness of difference for over 20 years.
After a round-the-world solidarity voyage on Kifouine between 2003 and 2006, a record-breaking voyage between Brittany and Mauritius with the Défi Intégration in 2010, and the creation of Team Jolokia in 2011, Éric Bellion set out on the Vendée Globe in 2016 to convey a message about the richness of difference.
He finished 9th, 1st rookie, after 99 days and asserted at the finish that "doing and experiencing different things with different people, that's where happiness lies."
Six years later, although he had sworn he wouldn't go back, Éric decided to set up a new IMOCA project with a view to a second participation, always with this idea of passing on what the ocean teaches him, including how to manage doubts and fear.
Teaming up with Jean Le Cam on this new project, the two skippers have taken their collaboration to an all-time high, pooling everything (knowledge, budget, partner...) to build two 100% identical boats. They wanted a sober, efficient and solid boat to sail around the world. The aim is also to prove that it is possible to build a new boat at lower cost.
Eric Bellion will be the first to launch his IMOCA in June 2023. With co-skipper Martin Le Pape, they take part in the Défi Azimut and the Transat Jacques Vabre, but due to electronics damage and a collision with OFNI, they fail to finish either race.
He will then follow up with the Transat CIC, which he will finish in 20th place. This last race marks the final step before the Vendée Globe in November 2024.
At the starting line, Eric feels ready to complete this solo round-the-world journey. But things won't go as planned. While he was sailing towards Cape Horn, the axis holding the J2 stay (forward sail) detached. Four days later, he decides to change course towards the Falkland Islands and will eventually make the decision to abandon the race.
2018: Route du Rhum (RhumMono) - out of time
2016-17: Vendée Globe - 9th
2015: Transat Jacques Vabre - 7th
2015: Rolex Fastnet Race - 7th
2013: Rolex Fastnet Race (IRCZ) - 8th
2013: Record SNSM - 1st
2011: Record des épices (Port-Louis Lorient - Port Louis Ile Maurice)
| Name | STAND AS ONE |
|---|---|
| Sail number | FRA 5 |
| Architect | David Raison |
| Construction | 2022, Persico Marine |
| Length | 18,28 m |
| Beam | NC |
| Draught | 4,5 m |
| Weight | NC |
| Mast height | 29 m |
| Mast type | Wing mast |
| Foils | No |
| Sail area max. | |
| Upwind | NC |
| Downwind | NC |
The 10th edition of the Vendée Globe will go down as one of the greatest in the race’s history, featuring more boats on the startline than ever before, more finishers than ever before, and an emphatic and record-breaking…
•••After 62 days at sea racing, Éric Bellion, the French skipper of STAND AS ONE - Altavia has withdrawn from the Vendée Globe The pin system holding the J2 forestay has given way again, a situation which in time could lead…
•••This Sunday, at precisely 1:02 PM, the long-awaited start of the Vendée Globe was unleashed. Forty skippers, driven by dreams as vast as the sea itself, set off on a legendary voyage—solo, non-stop, unassisted—embarking …
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