Benjamin Ferré is a sailor and entrepreneur from Brittany who loves life... and crazy challenges. After a transatlantic race under sextant sail, a solo round-the-world hitch-hike and a crossing of Morocco in a 4L, he launched IMAGO in 2017; the first adventure incubator in France, dedicated to hatching sporting, ecological and solidarity-based exploration projects. Benjamin Ferré is a sailor and entrepreneur from Brittany who loves life... and crazy challenges. After a transatlantic race under sextant sail, a solo round-the-world hitch-hike and a crossing of Morocco in a 4L, he launched IMAGO in 2017; the first adventure incubator in France, dedicated to hatching sporting, ecological and solidarity-based exploration projects.
In 2017, he set foot in the totally unknown world of ocean racing. 2 years later, he reached the podium in the 2019 Mini Transat aboard Pile Poil, Clarisse Crémer's former Mini, and finished first Bizuth.
He then discovered that someone had put everything he loved in life into a box, and had called it: OFFSHORE RACING!
After talking to Jean Le Cam, he came up with the idea of sailing around the world single-handed without stopovers and without assistance. He gave his all to take part in the 2024 edition. In 2022, he took over the helm of Banque Populaire, having just returned from the round-the-world race with Clarisse Crémer, and took part in his first solo IMOCA race in the Guyader Bermuda 1000 Race, which he finished in 11th place. He was then joined by the Monnoyeur Group and the Duo for a job association for the other races of the 2022 season.
In 2023, Benjamin Ferré joins Pierre Le Roy for the double-handed season.
My goals are the same for each race and will be the same as for the Vendée Globe. Firstly, it's about finishing, because we're all aware that the hardest part is getting to the other side and crossing the line. Secondly, the idea is to make constant progress in all areas (strategy, trimming, sleep management, nutrition). Finally, the third objective is to have fun and share it with my team, my sponsors and everyone involved in the project.
It's not the same automatisms, nor the same efforts, particularly with the matossage. By working with Pierre Le Roy, who's a meteorologist, I'm learning a lot from a strategy and trajectory point of view, but it'll be interesting to validate what I've learnt single-handed during the Return to Base! The main challenge will be managing fatigue. When you're racing, you're at 2000% all the time and I know that I'm going to arrive burnt out from the Transat Jacques Vabre. I'm going to have to manage the time between now and the start of the Retour à la base to recover properly!
The hardest thing to get to grips with is the fact that the two transatlantic races are back-to-back, with only 5 to 7 days in between. I'm trying to condition myself by thinking about this week, and above all by trying to regain my strength as much as possible. As soon as I arrived, we organised things with the members of my team so that they could look after the boat and I could manage to isolate myself. The idea is to disconnect with the sea, to regain strength by doing activities like hiking for example. That'll give me a chance to freshen up before embarking on this new challenge. It's a challenge in itself and a particularly interesting exercise!
2023
Rolex Fastnet Race - 15th
Guyader Bermudes 1000 Race - 9th
2022
Route du Rhum - 15th
Défi Azimut - 11th
Vendée Arctique - 4th
Guyader Bermudes 1000 Race - 11th
2019
Mini Transat 2019 - 3rd
Mini Fastnet 2019 - 5th
2019
2019 France championship - 7th
2015
Crossing the Atlantic using a sextant
Name: MONNOYEUR - DUO FOR A JOB
Architect: VPLP Verdier
Building: 2010, CDK Technologies
Launching: 08/16/2011
Previous names: MACIF, SMA, BANQUE POPULAIRE X
Lenght: 18,28m
Beam: 5,40m
Draught: 4,50m
Weight: 8 tonnes
Mast height: 29m
Mast type: Mât-aile
Foils: no
Upwind: 250 m²
Downwind: 530 m²
Monnoyeur
Monnoyeur, a family business founded in 1906, supplies its customers in the construction, industry and agriculture sectors with high-performance machinery and solutions - through the Bergerat Monnoyeur, Aprolis and Ipso distribution networks. Through its dedicated subsidiaries Eneria and Arkance, Monnoyeur also helps its customers to meet the challenges of energy transition and digitalisation. The group has sales of €2.3 billion in 2021, operates in 18 countries on 3 continents and employs more than 7,500 people.
DUO for a JOB is the association featured on the sails of Benjamin Ferré's IMOCA. It puts young people from immigrant backgrounds in touch with experienced people over 50 from the same professional sector, so that the latter can support them in their job search.
