As seen on Capn’ JP’s blog, the former skipper of the French soccer team, Zinedine Zidane is now becoming a sailor. Can we look forward to him headbutting Larry Ellison in the the chest? We can only hope.
“France’s most famous sportsman sprinkled some celebrity stardust on a
new solo yacht yesterday and promised to get his feet wet. Zinedine
Zidane unveiled a new Open 60 being built for the Vendée Globe race for
Breton sailor Yann Elies and ‘Zizou’, as he’s known in France, vowed to
be back for the baptism of the boat in May and spend a night at sea on
board.The boat, sponsored by French insurance company Groupe
Generali, is one of 16 new Open 60s destined for the next solo round
the world race. Her designers, Groupe Finot, fell out of fashion during
the last race cycle but they boast four previous winners, and are a
rising force again. Next year, they will have three new boats on the
start line, including one being built in Lymington for Britain’s Alex
Thomson.Yann Elies’s new 60 is taking shape at Multiplast in
Vannes, Brittany – thanks to the efforts of 15 builders and 20,000
hours of work.There will be a 6-page feature on the brutal new
generation of solo round the world yachts and sailors, and how this
cult world is rapidly changing, in the March issue of Yachting World.”