October 21, 2019

With more than 20 years’ experience in regattas, Breton skipper Jérémie Beyou‘s name is all over the honor rolls of some of the biggest French sailing competitions.

Beyou, 43, has had success in his career alone or in double-handed formats, with his calling card being his tenacity and drive to always push the envelope. In 2017 he signed with Charal Sailing Team, which has eyes on winning next year’s Vendée Globe — a single-handed, nonstop, around-the-world race considered the world’s toughest sporting challenge.

And they aim to do it with their IMOCA 60 CHARAL, a monohull foiler launched in 2018 and reinforced with the latest products from Garmin’s marine and tool watch range.

After winning this year’s Rolex Fastnet Race and Défi Azimut, they’ll continue to prepare for Vendée Globe 2020 with a start at this month’s Transat Jacques Vabre in northern France. It’s a must-do for the IMOCA Globe Series calendar and will allow Beyou and CHARAL to confront real-life conditions with some thirty boats and their skippers.

“We will take the start reassured at Le Havre,” said Beyou, who will have at his disposal plenty of Garmin technology onboard CHARAL. Keeping them on course will be a GMR Fantom 18 radar, a GPSMAP 722 chartplotter, an AIS 800 Blackbox Transceiver and a VHF 315i Marine Radio.

That’s not to mention an inReach Mini satellite communicator and a new MARQ Captain tool watch. The former will give him and co-skipper Christopher Pratt peace of mind, while the latter can make all the difference during a race with innovative features like a virtual start line, time remaining before the start and myriad boat data.

“Having discovered the [quatix 5] during my Volvo Ocean Race, I was seduced by its easy-to-use technology and its connectivity,” Beyou said. “Since then, I wear it during regattas but also on land to keep track during my physical preparation.

“My Garmin stays with me everywhere I go. Team Beyou Racing has been using Garmin marine products many years. We have already equipped our RIB fleet, so I am very familiar with Garmin advantages and constant technological progress.”