Man of the hour


The studio of Jean-Marie Finot once led the world in open class design, their wide and powerful 60-footers winning four Vendée Globes on the bounce between 1992 and 2004. For the current Vendée cycle they have teamed up with designer/racer Antoine Koch, once an intern of the now Finot-Conq office. The new pairing launched two new Imocas just before the Fastnet; distinct from the status quo designs, these two boats look able to not only match the best existing Imocas but in some conditions to sail away from them. Patrice Carpentier – himself another big name in Vendée Globe history – sat down with the man who is today the talk of Lorient


52 SEAHORSE


ANTOINE KOCH Antoine, born on 14 March 1978 in Paris, is a naval engineer and navigator. At 20 he participated in his first Solitaire du Figaro and finished third rookie. After studying as an engineer at the mechanical engineering school in Compiègne, Koch took the famous naval architecture course in Southampton and then embarked on his first proper offshore race. He was soon taking part in a large


variety of the longer ocean races, on many different boats, before purchasing an Imoca at the age of just 24 with the objec- tive of the Route du Rhum 2002 (the boat is Fila, Soldini’s former boat). He finished an impressive fifth in a very rough race in which many boats – especially the Orma tris – were lost or dismasted. He continued in competition as a skipper


or co-skipper, solo or crew, monohull or multihull. He also supported the great routeur Jean-Yves Bernot, guiding Michel Desjoyeaux in his victorious Transat 2004. Invited for the opening race of the new


Multi Cup 60 series, the youngest trimaran skipper now focused on the Route du Rhum 2006. At 27 he was one of the most promising sailors of his generation. He took the helm of the trimaran Sopra Group (originally skippered by Philippe Monnet) for the 2006 solo Transat, in which he fin- ished ninth. Oscillating between navigation on Figaros or multihulls and his paid job as an engineer, he returned to Imoca in 2019 with the LinkedOut project of Thomas


Ruyant. Antoine took part in the Transat Jacques Vabre with the Dunkirk skipper, a race that the duo finished in fourth position. Antoine was back again in 2023, on the


same Imoca (now named For The Planet) but this time with Sam Goodchild as skipper, for the year’s big two-handed races. On his return from the Transat Jacques Vabre we talked to this discreet man, brilliant engineer and talented competitor. He had a smile on his face. People and


Paprec Arkéa, two new 60-footers designed jointly by Antoine Koch and Finot Group, took the first two places. To complete the perfect soufflé of success Antoine himself, racing with British Sam Goodchild, took a stunning third place just nine minutes off second; they were sailing the former LinkedOut, the Guillaume Verdier design skippered by Thomas Ruyant, until the arrival of the new boat. Sam and Thomas are united in one


team, TR Racing, which owns and oper- ates For the Planet (Sam) and For People (Thomas). But this flattering assessment requires some filling out… Seahorse: How did you, Thomas Ruyant and Finot/Conq all come together? Antoine Koch: Boris Herrmann first bought the Verdier Imoca Gitana 16 (built for Sébastien Josse) on which I had worked previously. The German skipper sailed the 2017 TJV with Thomas Ruyant. He came to me for advice on the boat and we imme- diately got on well. When Thomas decided to build his first Imoca (LinkedOut), for


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