Bernard Stamm

Who is Bernard Stamm?

Bernard Stamm is a Swiss sailor known for winning twice in a row the "BOC Challenge" in the IMOCA Open 60 category: in 2002-2003 (the race was then named 'Around Alone') and in 2006-2007 (race then named 'Velux 5 Oceans'). Stamm sailing record includes several other notable items such as being one of the designated helmsman on Bruno Peyron's maxi catamaran 'Orange II' during its successful attempt at the Jules Verne Trophée, in 2005. He's also had mixed fortune, notably two failed attempts in the Vendée Globe and also the loss of the keel during the 2004 Plymouth-Boston Transat, but these incidents appear to merely hone his determination; he's indeed readily readily preparing for the 2012-2013 edition of the Vendée Globe.

Born in Geneva in 1963, and although casually introduced to sailing on small craft in his youth, Bernard Stamm came to ocean racing relatively late. He held various jobs on land and on water (lumberjack, boat-hand on cargo ships, work at a shipyard...) and in 1994 he settles in the small Brittany port of Lesconil to built his first yacht: a 'mini' in preparation of the '1995 Mini Transat' which he finishes in 3rd position. He soon works on 'Armor Lux' a 60 foot open, completed in time for the 2000 edition of Vendée Globe; various mechanical issues cause him to abandon this race. However the same year, on Armor Lux, he shatters the record of the Atlantic in 8 days, 20 hours and 52 minutes. It is again on 'Armor Lux' that he wins the 2002-2003 'Around Alone' and also the 2006-2007 'Velux 5 Oceans' (the boat was renamed 'Cheminées Poujolat' in 2004). Again, the Vendée Globe brings him bad luck, in 2008 as he's forced to abandon following a grounding on Kerguelen Islands.