Owner, Jean Luc Petithuguenin is passionate about his sailing as is his crew. He has seen his team develop from the final days of the Admiral’s Cup through offshore and international successes with a variety of classes and yachts, mostly with crew which was amateur at its core. Increasingly the Paprec team have upped their game, bringing more professional sailors on board and in 2022 bought what was the newest boat in the fleet at that time, a highly optimised Botin design BP326.
And since 2016 they have shown how they want to bring young French sailors into the grand prix yacht racing world, recruiting from the Olympic classes, the Figaro and match racing. But at heart they still share the same ethos, aiming to keep getting better and to keep enjoying their racing together. It is not unusual to see the Paprec team stay out to enjoy a little more sailing for fun!
Their objective as a group is simply that, to always sail to the best of their abilities and provide the occasional upset to the bigger teams, and every day their infectious enthusiasm spreads around the dock at each regatta.
Their race win in Key West in 2017 remains something of a landmark moment not just for the team but for everyone who shared their Champagne celebration!
In 2024 they have recruited French ocean racing legend Loïck Peyron as tactician. The 64 year old whose experience spans everything from foiling Moths to America’s Cup to winning the Trophée Jules Verne as well as the Route du Rhum solo on the giant Ultim Banque Populaire to the Vendée Globe which he won in 1996… Peyron is loving the new experience of top level, grand prix monohull racing on windward leeward courses whilst injecting a measure of youthful energy and rigour to the program.
