Eric Loizeau (66) â *First GGR Special Invitational entrant.
A disciple of Eric Tabarly, Loizeau spent his formative years crewing for the great Frenchman on Pen Duick VI before graduating to skipper Gauloises 2 in the 1977/8 Whitbread round the world race, winning two legs outright. He then skippered a series of offshore multihulls, and set a solo Atlantic solo record in 1982 and became the Multihull World Champion in 1986. He was elected French Yachtsman of the Year in 1978.