Franck Cammas is a French sailing hero, but this year marks his first-ever campaign for the oldest trophy in international sport.
Cammas has a long list of achievements including winning the Jules Verne trophy, Volvo Ocean Race, Little America’s Cup and many other World Championship titles. Now he takes on his challenge yet: to lead a French team to victory in the America’s Cup.
When Franck Cammas rounded Cape Horn aboard a flying catamaran
About Franck Cammas
Franck Cammas (born 22 December 1972 in Aix-en-Provence) is a French yachtsman. He has lived in Brittany since his victory in the Challenge Espoir Crédit Agricole in 1994. After completing a two-year maths course for the ‘Grandes écoles’, as well as a piano academy, Franck Cammas finally opted for a career in sailing. In 1997, at the age of 24, he won the Solitaire du Figaro and a year later helmed his first trimaran christened Groupama. Despite his late entry into competition, he is one of the most talented and respected sailors in the Ocean Racing Multihull Association world.
Later, Cammas was skipper of the 60-foot (18 m) trimaran Groupama 2, with which he won five ORMA championships. His last trimaran, the 103-foot (31 m) Groupama 3 was designed to break ocean racing records. Groupama 2 holds the record for being the fastest yacht in a transat Jacques Vabre race and Groupama 3 once broke Jules Verne Trophy, which she held for nearly two years.
After winning Route du Rhum and the Jules Verne Trophy in 2010, Cammas has switched from multihull to monohull racing and won the 2011–12 Volvo Ocean Race with the Open 70 Groupama 4.
Cammas is involved in the 2017 America’s Cup as a skipper for Groupama Team France.
Cammas is the father of two girls and practices other sports including skiing, boardsports and cycling.