Lower Normandy Will Host SolOceans

Posted by Alan Sorum Jun 3, 2007

Philippe Duron, President of the Regional Council of Lower Normandy and Yvan Griboval, General Manager of SailingOne have signed an agreement to organize the SolOceans global yacht race in the Lower Normandy Region. The partnership will promote the region as a legitimate maritime sailing industry center with the start and finish of SolOceans to occur in Lower Normandy.

SolOceans represents itself as the first equal opportunity, single-handed global yacht race. Participants will use a one-design monohull called Veolia Oceans®. The SolOceans race is being developed by a company named SailingOne of La Trinité-sur-Mer, France. The Oceanic one-design monohulls are named after the prime event sponsor Veolia Environmental Services. The race will run every two years, with one leg starting in the fall and the finishing leg being completed at the beginning of the next year. The first 26,000 nautical mile SolOceans race is scheduled to depart in October of 2009.

President Philippe Duron says, “The SolOceans will participate in our efforts to provide Lower Normandy with a new ambition. Lower Normandy is an international gateway and this race, which will tour the world, will be its ambassador, since the challenges of tomorrow are world challenges. To be able to have a means of communicating with the whole world by welcoming sailors of several nationalities is of great importance. The human values conveyed by this oceanic race in which all the sportsmen and women will be on an equal footing is unifying for our territory and will send a strong message out to the world”.

A number of Lower Normandy equipment suppliers are providing equipment for the Veolia Oceans® one-design craft. Karver Demolin, Eric Semaine, Nanni Diesel, and North Sails France are represented in the region. Normandy is close to major population centers, has a large sailing event audience, is proximate to major international airports and harbors.

Jean-Pierre Champion, President of the FFVoile - French Sailing Federation stated, “We are highly satisfied to see the SolOceans enter the Ligue de Voile de Basse-Normandie programme. There is real legitimacy in this. The large harbours of the region, in particular Caen and Cherbourg, are reputed for their vitality and their skills in organising large sailing meetings. The solid support of the elected representatives of this region is an additional guarantee of quality. This announcement happens at a good time, since thanks to the work of the voluntary workers of the Ligue de Voile de Basse-Normandie we are witnessing a boost in the activities of our clubs and our sailing schools. There is a lot of human and technical potential in Lower-Normandy. It is a traditional sailing region undergoing complete renewal. The SolOceans will therefore be an additional development factor."