YANN ELIÈS AT THE 2007 CHAMPIONS MEETING

Nearly two months after the XVIIe Trophée Clairefontaine des Champions de Voile that was sailed in La Trinité-sur-Mer (Brittany) won by Franck Cammas in front of Jérémie Beyou - for his first participation - and Loïck Peyron, the line-up of the eight skippers invited to the traditional champions meeting, September 1st and September 2nd 2007 is taking shape, before the fore coming big events: Route du Rhum - La Banque Postale 2006 and America's Cup 2007. Yann Eliès is thus the newcomer to this big nautical show.

Four champions are already armed with their ticket for the eighteenth Trophée Clairefontaine. The 2006 platform will indeed meet up once again: Franck Cammas, Jérémie Beyou and Loïck Peyron, who has just won the Swiss Decision 35 Catamaran Championship in front of Ernesto Bertarelli. The fourth invited champion, holder of the nicest French single-handed offshore racing sailing CV, Michel Desjoyeaux, has also been asked to get his oilskins ready for September 2007. Spectators fond this competition can therefore be sure there will once again be some vitality and enthusiasm on the nautical stadium!

Yann Eliès is the fifth invited champion. He is a newcomer in the speciality. Former skipper in the Figaro Bénéteau Class, he and his faithful partner Generali, have now entered the Vendée Globe IMOCA 60 monohull class. Yann Eliès owes his invitation to his recent Single-handed Offshore Sailing French Champion title. He indeed won this title on September 28th in Fécamp (Normandy) thanks to his victory in the Course des Falaises race, after a week of regattas along the coasts of Seine-Maritime. Yann Eliès had already been crowned French Champion in 2004 thanks to a victory in the Course des Falaises. Furthermore, Yann Eliès also holds the Trophée Jules Verne, non-stop around-the-world record on the Orange (2002) and Orange 2 (2005) maxi-catamarans alongside Bruno Peyron.

During the Trophée Clairefontaine, the eight champions will sail in a three-men crew (the champion at the helm and his two crew-members) on the spectacular SailingOne one-design catamaran (25’ - 7.65 m) exclusively designed and used to be entrusted by the organization once a year, to each of the eight stars of the event. There are still three invitations remaining to be given. Fore coming international sailing events within June 2007 should enable us to splendidly complete the Trophée Clairefontaine 2007 line-up.

Since it began, in 1990, the Trophée Clairefontaine is the only event in the world to unite champions from different disciplines on a totally equal footing, on spectacular yachts exclusively designed and used for this purpose, showing that sailing is both varied and unique, in the spirit of the general policy of the French Sailing Federation

The prize-giving of the Trophée Clairefontaine 2006 will be held on the Morbihan stand in the Brittany section of the Paris International Boat Show Thursday, December 7th at 5.30pm, with the everlasting support of the South Brittany oyster farming regional section. We will celebrate this year’s podium, introduce the known invited champions of the eighteenth Trophée Clairefontaine (August 30th to September 2nd 2007), but mostly, as it has always been the tradition and since we have reached the end of our contractual cycle with La-Trinité-sur-Mer, disclose the name of the next host port of the Trophée Clairefontaine 2007.

Media enquiries: Clémentine Chaignaud: +33 145 780 428 - +33 603 943 444