Yann Guichard
Skipper
- Nationality : French & Swiss
- On board role : Skipper and helmsman
- Number of world tours : 1
Best performance
Having spent his childhood in Brittany, Yann Guichard studied sport in La Rochelle before going on to discover the Tornado aged 20. Fourth at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the Frenchman then turned his attention to offshore multihulls. A highly prized crew member and helmsman, he combined Olympic preparations alongside inshore and offshore racing.
In 2011, Yann Guichard and his wife Dona Bertarelli co-founded their professional sailing team, now named Sails of Change, formerly known as Spindrift. Three years later he pulled off the feat of racing solo on the largest racing maxi-trimaran ever built, in the Route du Rhum 2014, finishing in 2nd place. The holder of the crewed Discovery Route record, and multihull line honours winner in the Rolex Fastnet Race in 2013 and 2015, Yann Guichard set sail with his crew on his first Jules Verne Trophy attempt in 2015-16, securing the third best time in the record’s history in 47 days 10 hours 59 minutes (fourth fastest outright).
Already a Bol d’Or Mirabaud winner in 2014, he repeated this performance in 2019 in epic weather conditions. That same year, Ladycat bowed out of competition to give way to the new TF35.
In 2021, Dona Bertarelli and Yann Guichard were appointed Patrons of Nature for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), an organisation which supports #30×30, a global call for action to protect at least 30% of the ocean and the earth by 2030, and whose mission is “for a just world which values and conserves nature”.
As a sportsman, Yann is convinced of the connection between sports and nature. The Sails of Change name aligns closely with the sailing team founders’ values and passion for sports and nature, and the sailing team continues to support the mission of Dona Bertarelli Philanthropy to raise awareness for biodiversity conservation. The team is also a signatory of the Sports for Nature Framework. The Sails of Change livery design comprises the green of the earth and the blue of the ocean, alongside the #30×30 logo, the first campaign supported by Sails of Change.
Today, Yann Guichard helms the TF35 Sails of Change 8, a latest generation foiling catamaran. In 2021 and 2022, the team finished 3rd in the championship. In 2023, they finished the TF35 Trophy season in 2nd place. Yann also continues to keep another Jules Verne Trophy record attempt in his sights with 40 days, 23 hours and 30 minutes the time to beat.