The former Figaro journalist who turned his IMOCA into a floating lab
French IMOCA skipper, born on February 24, 1978 in Château-Gontier. From 2003 to 2015, Fabrice Amédéo covered politics at Le Figaro and launched Figaro Nautisme in 2012. He turned pro in sailing after an initial Class40 campaign, completed his first Vendée Globe in 2016–2017 in 11th place, and has been carrying oceanographic sensors on every voyage since 2019.
Ocean Calling: science takes precedence over sporting results
Since 2019, his IMOCA has been collecting CO₂, salinity, temperature, microplastics, and environmental DNA. The data is sent to Ifremer, CNRS, University of Bordeaux, and IRD (Christophe Maes, LOPS). During the 2024–2025 Vendée Globe, 53 microplastic samples were collected along the route—a unique dataset on the Southern Oceans. The program led to an Ifremer conference in 2022 on the first microplastics assessment.
Two completed Vendée Globes, two retirements due to breakages
The career is marked by two finishes and two retirements. 11th in 2016–2017 aboard Newrest-Matmut, then retired in December 2020 due to a total computer failure. In the 2022 Route du Rhum, fire followed by sinking—recovered by a cargo ship. Return for the 2024–2025 Vendée Globe aboard the Nexans-Wewise foiling IMOCA: 32nd, finishing on March 4, 2025 in 114 days.
2026–2028 Program
New launch of the IMOCA FDJ United – Wewise in April 2026. FDJ United has committed through the 2028 Vendée Globe—it will be its fourth circumnavigation. Next milestone: the 2026 Route du Rhum, starting from Saint-Malo on November 1.
Career highlights
- 2014 Route du Rhum (Class40): 9th
- 2015 Transat Jacques Vabre (IMOCA Newrest-Matmut, with Éric Péron): 8th
- 2016–2017 Vendée Globe (Newrest-Matmut): 11th in 103 days, 21 hours, 1 minute
- 2017 Transat Jacques Vabre (with Giancarlo Pedote): 12th
- 2019 Transat Jacques Vabre: 9th
- 2020–2021 Vendée Globe: retired on December 11, 2020 (total computer failure)
- 2021 Transat Jacques Vabre (with Loïs Berrehar): 10th
- 2022 Route du Rhum: retired on November 14 (fire followed by sinking, recovered by a cargo ship)
- 2023 Transat Jacques Vabre (with Andreas Baden): 28th
- 2024–2025 Vendée Globe (Nexans-Wewise, foiler): 32nd, finishing on March 4, 2025 in 114 days, 1 hour, 58 minutes
