Kito de Pavant

Born on 23 February 1961 in St-Pardoux-la-Rivière (Dordogne, France). 5 children. Lives in Montferrier-sur-Lez (Hérault – South of France).

In 2005, he had the kind of encounter a skippers dream of. Bel Group joined him on the Generali Solo and the La Vache qui Rit®  (Laughing Cow) has been smiling with him ever since. One success followed another with a 3rd place on the Solitaire, followed by a victory in the Transat AG2R and the Mediterranean Solo in 2006. “I was confident at last”, says the skipper. Then followed the building of a brand new 60’ monohull, fitted out for ocean racing. This started with the Transat Jacques Vabre 2007 in which Kito competed with Sébastien Col, the French skipper in the last America’s Cup, who was preparing to cross the Atlantic for the first time. This improbable duo left Le Havre in the lead and finished 6th in Bahia. Kito then won a 2nd place in the Transat B to B, single-handed race qualifying for the Vendée Globe.

2008, the year of the Globe. Unfortunately, the Vendée Globe adventure came to an abrupt end after only 28 hours of racing, following the dismasting of the boat in the Bay of Biscay. Thanks to the unfailing support of the Bel Group, Kito and his team admirably got back on their feet again and did not waste time over the winter. Back at sea again, lots of developments were made to the boat: “We adapted her to sailing with a crew by optimizing, in particular, the efficiency of the sail plan and maneuvering” These are a whole load of details that aren't really. Kito is impatient to get back racing and he has left nothing to chance.

The year 2009 starts to a beating drum. In June, he beat the record for crossing the Mediterranean single-handed before a sensational race between St. Tropez and Genoa, in which the IMOCA 60 footer was one of the great leaders of the legendary Giraglia Rolex Cup. Following their stopovers in Egypt and then Syria, Kito and his crew met up with the contenders of the first Istanbul Europa Race in Turkey (Crew-manned Tour of Europe). Always to the front of the fleet and winner of the Barcelona leg, Groupe Bel finished second in Brest!