Louis Burton- Ocean Masters Portrait- Masters Of the Seas No 12

by Leslie Greenhalgh on 21 Jul 2014 Ocean Masters World Championships - Louis Burton is 29 years old and was born in Ivry Sur Seine in the Paris region. His life as a sailor began during his summer holidays with his brother and parents in the Ile aux Moines, Golfe du Morbihan, where he joined the local sailing school. He progressed to go through a few stages with the Glenans and really got into sailing properly at the age of 18 – he would have done so earlier had his parents not pushed him into finishing his studies!

When he had enough money, he went ahead and bought his first race boat, from Belgium and he brought it back to France and took part in the Atlantic Trophy with a few friends. Even back then he realised that he had to start looking for sponsors. He also started solo sailing at the stage and from those early days knew that it was something he really enjoyed.

« I set up my own company in 2007, a communications agency in Paris. Two years later I was able to buy an X99, a 10m boat, and then was able to continue to race in the Atlantic Trophy. At the end of 2009, I wanted to achieve my dream of competing in the Route du Rhum. We raced 1000 miles with an old Class 40 and won the race. I was one of the youngest in the race and it really gave me a chance to build a profile for the future. » shared Louis.

A chance meeting with Bruno Peyrolles, Founder of the Bureau Vallée company, took place just one month before the start of the Route Du Rhum. That’s how the relationship started, lots of communications and stories to tell and both the sponsor and Louis really benefitted from that race and decided to continue on in partnership together.

At the end of 2011, an amazing opportunity came up with Jeremie Beyou at the end of the Delta Dore campaign. The boat was up for sale and Louis got hold of it in August 2011. It was re-branded as Bureau Vallée and he competed in the 2011 Transat Jacques Vabre with his brother in 2011.

The year after that, 2012, was a Vendée Globe year and Louis competed in the Transat B to B to qualify. Once that was done the skipper and sponsor decided it was time to take on the big Vendée Globe race – a lot happened very quickly in two years!

« In 2011 I turned professional in my sport of sailing having met my ‘now’ wife Servane Escoffier in 2010 and we chose to live in the port of St Malo. Today we have the company ‘BG Race’ which manages both of our campaigns.

We live close to the port with our family and that allows us to manage family life and run our professional sailing campaigns – luckily we have a great nanny and grand parents close by! »

To live this life for many is a dream, for Louis Burton it is a reality. It is tough to run an IMOCA 60 campaign – technically challenging, needing both money and the right skills. Thanks to the support of Bureau Vallée, Louis has put together a strong team – able to balance the needs of the sponsor with the campaign objectives.

The IMOCA class programme means they can compete in events around the world, always trying to go faster than the others – it is both a performance and physical challenge. That involves a lot of training and balancing all of the preparations required to get to the start line. They can select from solo round the world races (Vendée Globe) or double handed (Barcelona World Race) as well as a number of classical oceanic crossing races – all forming part of the Ocean Masters World Championship.

« The IMOCA class pushes extreme sailing to its limits with real technical reviews and debates, there is a desire to progress science and continuously find new innovations across all aspects – from research studies, to sail makers, new construction materials – this is all really important. On the water, these boats really do go fast, they are powerful and really unforgiving. There are multiple sail combination options and a continuous need to keep on your toes so as not to end up in trouble. »

« My first experience on an IMOCA was pretty special, it was during the Transat double-handed with Nelson. Neither of us had sailed one of these boats before, I had only done one solo transat in the Class 40 and we set off backed by our sponsors only three months after having bought the boat! We were hungry to do it and full of curiosity, lots to see and learn. We got on really well on the water and that was a really special experience with my brother. We made some really good tactical decisions which allowed us to go very fast and were in front for most of the race and get a good result. That race is really a great memory for me. »

This year Louis plans to compete in the Cowes-Dinard and in the Azimut Trophy in Lorient, good to PR and good training for the Route du Rhum. After that, he will take the boat to the Med for some PR events for Bureau Vallée. There is a 1000 mile race down there and then back to Britanny to prepare for the TJV. The plans also include competing in the Transat B to B in order to qualify for the Vendée Globe. And then the big focus on preparation for the Vendée in 2016.

Louis concludes, « I think the Ocean Masters World Championships is a great concept. Like all new ideas and projects, there is a time for adjustments. It’s a brave plan, in the good sense of the word, especially in this difficult economic time. But the idea to grow an international circuit and to look for sponsors – that’s the right way for sure. But we need to remember the foundations of the class and manage to internationalise without diluting that. «