Eric Loizeau (67) France
is a disciple of legendary French yachtsman Eric Tabarly who began sailing at the age of 10 and spent his formative years crewing for the great Frenchman on Pen Duick VI before graduating to skipper Gauloises 2 (ex-Pen Duick III) in the 1977/8 Whitbread round the world race, winning two legs outright. He then set a solo transatlantic record in 1982 and became the Multihull World Champion in 1986. He was elected French Yachtsman of the Year in 1978. Eric is looking to commission a new Rustler 36 class yacht for the GGR and intends to work with CNRS, UNESCO, Race for Water, and Plankton Planet during the voyage, logging scientific observations about plastic pollution and plankton on a daily basis.