Meilhat and Cammas set their sights on The Ocean Race

Two of the top French sailors have set their sights on the next edition of The Ocean Race.

Paul Meilhat, the winner of the most recent edition of the Route du Rhum, and Franck Cammas, the winning skipper of the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race, have each told French media they are working on campaigns for the 2021 edition of The Ocean Race.

Meilhat, who won the Route du Rhum in November in his final outing with sponsor SMA, is currently leading the 2018-2021 IMOCA rankings. He spent last week in Alicante at The Ocean Race headquarters with his commercial team to firm up his plans.

Meilhat was interviewed in Le Figaro over the weekend and confirmed he has developed a three-race plan, including the Vendee Globe, The Ocean Race and the Route du Rhum, which he says would result in big efficiencies in costs and return to potential backers.

Similarly, Franck Cammas spoke to the noted French sailing website Tip & Shaft in an interview published last Friday, saying that through his association with Oman Sail, he is working to put together a campaign.

Cammas is well known to fans of the race. He led his Groupama team to victory in the 2011-12 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race, and joined Dongfeng Race Team for Leg 4, from Melbourne to Hong Kong, in the last race.

In December, it was announced he would join Oman Sail to lead its offshore racing and training programmes in 2019.

Now, he has told Tip & Shaft he is convinced a team flying the Oman Sail colours could follow a similar template to what Dongfeng Race Team did in terms of developing offshore sailing talent.

Story www.theoceanrace.com