Winner in 80 Days of Vendée Globe anthology, Yannick Pestavin, elected sailor of the year 2021, was announced on Monday 6 December by the French Sailing Federation at a ceremony in Paris.
The ship’s captain was awarded this honor for the first time, a 20-year-old that has rewarded great names in sailing such as Michel Desjoyeaux, two-time winner of the Vendée Globe, or Franck Cammas. Bestaven received a large majority of the votes, 12 out of 17 votes in the first round. In front of him, Charlene Bacon, double Olympic medalist in surfing, got 4 votes and Nicholas Goyard, world and European champion in IQFoil, 1 vote.
joy Tweet embed With the Sailor of the Year Cup on the Olympic stage
I did well !Tweet embed | #Marinani 21 pic.twitter.com/7nQWSNAeoj
– FFVoile (FFVoile) December 6, 2021
Sailor of the Year is an honor that has been awarded since 2001 by a jury made up of institutions, athletes and media professionals, and awarded by the French Sailing Federation. The public is also asked to vote online (ie two votes).
The 48-year-old La Rochelle sailor succeeds in tandem Camille Lecointre and Alois Returnaz (Olympic Sailing), which was dedicated in 2019. In 2020, the Sailor of the Year is none other than Sailor of the Decade in the person of Frank Camas for his exceptional career in many events over the course of the year. the past ten years.
Bestaven won the 2020/2021 Vendée Globe after 80 days of singles non-stop worldwide racing full of twists and turns. It was particularly marked by the drowning of Kevin Escovier and his epic rescue by Jean Le Cam. Escoffier and Le Cam have been awarded the 2020 Solidarity Award by the French Sailing Federation.
Shortly before receiving the Sailor of the Year award, Pestafin was honored with a Knight of the Legion of Honor by President Emmanuel Macron, just like Le Cam.
Very happy to attend his concert Tweet embed A tribute to Jean le Cam and Yannick Bestaven, both distinguished for their athletic performance and bravery over the past #VendéeGlobe Presenting the knight’s badge # dawn pic.twitter.com/Bh7ggVcW8A
– Martin Leguel Balloy (@LeguilleBalloy) December 6, 2021
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