French recognize Le Cleac’ and Coville

French sailors Armel Le Cleac’h and Thomas Coville have been awarded the National Order of the Legion of Honour at a grand ceremony at the Elysée Palace in Paris. Le Cleac’ and Coville received the recognition following outstanding achievements in offshore sailing.

Le Cléac’h won the Vendée Globe in 74 days and 3 hours and Thomas Coville smashed the solo round the world record in a time of 49 days and 3 hours.

The Legion of Honour is the highest French order of merit for military and civil merits, established 1802 by Napoléon Bonaparte.

French President François Hollande paid homage to French sailing, which posted a series of spectacular results in 2016-2017. World Sailing President Kim Andersen and French Sailing Federation President Nicolas Hénard joined the evening to celebrate the sailors’ success.

Photo: (Left to right) WS President Kim Andersen, Armel Le Cleac’h, Thomas Coville and FFVoile President Nicolas Henard.

Source: World Sailing, Wikipedia