Yannick Bestaven

Yannick Bestaven is a French sailor born on 28 December 1972 in Saint-Nazaire in the Loire-Atlantique region. He is an offshore sailor and winner of the Transat 6.50 in 2001 and twice winner of the Transat Jacques-Vabre. In January 2021, he won the 2020–2021 Vendée Globe for IMOCA 60 class yachts on board Maître CoQ IV, formerly known as Safran II. He won despite crossing the line in third position, thanks to a time bonus received for participating in the rescue of fellow sailor Kevin Escoffier, earlier in the race. An engineer by training, he is the co-designer of the Watt and Sea hydrogenator designed by Eric Tabarly.