| Nationality: | French |
| Birth Date: | 4 April 1980 |
| Birth Place: | Saint-Malo |
| Club: | SN Baie St. Malo |
Kevin Escoffier is a French professional sailor born on 4 April 1980[1] in Saint-Malo, France and a resident of Lorient.[2] [3] He is an offshore sailor who has won the 2018 Volvo Ocean Race as a bowman onboard DongFeng.[4] and competed in the 2020–2021 Vendée Globe aboard PRB.[5] In 2022-23 he initially skippered Holcim-PRB in The Ocean Race, before leaving the team mired in a sexual harassment incident.[6] He is a member of the yacht club SN Baie St. Malo[7]
He studied Engineering for 3 years at EPF in Paris, 2 years at the École Polytechnique de Montréal and 8 months at the University of Maryland and now specializes in composite engineering. One of his first projects was being involved in the development of Multi 50 class "Crêpes Whaou! 2", which was built for his father Franck-Yves Escoffier, also an offshore sailor. This boat was launched in April 2005 and in November of that year Kevin and his father won class in the Transat Jacques Vabre.[8] We was involved in various IMOCA projects for other skippers, and has headed up Team Banque Populaire's design office.[9]
While competing in the 2020–2021 Vendée Globe his IMOCA 60 PRB hull broke in half, sinking quickly in the Southern Ocean. Describing the speed of the incident he said “I didn’t have time to do anything, I just had time to send a message to my team. I’m sinking, I’m not joking. MAYDAY.”[10] He later recalled how the boat folded in half.
The race director sent fellow competitor Jean Le Cam to the area who found Kevin in his life raft, but lost contact while preparing to recover Kevin. More competitors were sent to help with the search but Jean Le Cam found Kevin for the second time several hours later and took Kevin on board.[11] [12]
The rescue got extensive coverage with French President Emmanuel Macron[13] getting in contact with Escoffier and Jean Le Cam. He later described the way the boat folded in 90 degrees and the very limited time he had to abandon the ship, and how him carrying a personal AIS beacon helped save his life.[14] [15] [16]
| Pos. | Year | Event | Class | Boat Name | Notes | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round the World Race | |||||||
| DNF | 2021 | PRB | Sank, rescued by Jean Le Cam | [17] | |||
| 1 | 2018 | 2017-2018 Volvo Ocean Race | Dongfeng Race Team | ||||
| 3 | 2014 | Dongfeng Race Team | |||||
| WR | 2012 | Maxi Multi | New Round the World Record of 45d 13h 42m 53s | ||||
| Trans Oceanic Race | |||||||
| 2 | 2019 | PRB | with Nicolas Lunven | [18] | |||
| 1 | 2015 | Krys Ocean Race | MOD 70 | Spindrift | Transatlantic in 4d 21h 8m at 28 knots | [19] [20] | |
| WR | 2009 | - | Crew in a time of 3d 15h 25min 48s | ||||
| 1 | 2005 | Transat Jacques Vabre | Multi 50 | Crêpes Whaou! 2 | |||
| Other Races | |||||||
| 5 | 2020 | Vendée-Arctique-Les Sables d'Olonne | PRB | Singlehanded Vendee Qualifier | [21] | ||
| 5 | 2020 | Défi Azimut | PRB | with [22] | |||
| 2 | 2019 | Défi Azimut | with Nicolas Lunven | ||||
| 2 | 2019 | PRB | [23] | ||||