Jean Le Cam (born 27 April 1959 in Quimper, Finistère) is a French sailor.
In 1981–82, he was a crewmember on Euromarché in the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race.
Le Cam was crewman with Éric Tabarly and Michel Desjoyeaux, and won the Solitaire du Figaro in 1994, 1996, and 1999.The only two other triple winners are Philippe Poupon and Michel Desjoyeaux He later took an interest in multihull ships.
He finished second in the Vendée Globe 2004-2005, arriving just a few hours after the winner Vincent Riou.
On 6 January 2009, whilst competing in the 2008-2009 edition of the Vendée Globe, he went missing 200 miles from Cape Horn. Vincent Riou, the then skipper of PRB, rescued Jean Le Cam from his upturned IMOCA 60. Le Cam was trapped inside his upturned yacht for 16 hours during which time it was not known for certain if he was safe inside his boat or not.
On 30 November 2020, 16:15 UTC, whilst competing in the Vendée Globe 2020-2021 the roles were reversed when Le Cam conducted a nighttime rescue of fellow competitor and PRB skipper Kevin Escoffier, after Escoffier's yacht broke apart 840 miles southwest of Cape Town, Africa. Once the rescue was complete Le Cam rejoined the race, with Escoffier aboard. Escoffier was later recovered from Le Cam's 'Yes we Cam' yacht by the French Navy on 6 December 2020. Le Cam was awarded a 16hr 15min time compensation for rescuing Kevin Escoffier. Jean Le Cam crossed the finish line on 28 January 2021 at 19:19:55 UTC+1 in 8th place with an elapsed time of 81d 05h 59m 55s. With his time compensation added he is ranked in 4th place and a total time of 80d 13h 44m 55s. It was already his 5th participation in the Vendée Globe.
Le Cam was appointed chevalier of the French Légion d’honneur in July 2021.
Career highlights PosYearRaceClassBoat nametimeNotesRefRound the world races 20 / 40 2025 2024–2025 Vendée Globe IMOCA 60 Tout commence en Finistère - Armor-lux 85d 15h 51m 02s 4 / 33 2021 2020–2021 Vendée Globe IMOCA 60 Yes We Cam! 80d 13h 44m 55s 6 / 29 2017 2016–2017 Vendée Globe IMOCA 60 Finistère Mer Vent 80d 04h 41m 54s 1 / 8 2015 Barcelona World Race IMOCA 60 Chem 84d 05h 50m 25s with 5 / 20 2013 2012–2013 Vendée Globe IMOCA 60 SynerCiel 88d 00h 12m 58s DNF 2009 Barcelona World Race IMOCA 60 Président, ESP 3 with | RET / 30 2009 2008–2009 Vendée Globe IMOCA 60 VM Matériaux Lost keel and capsized rescued by Vincent Riou 2 / 20 2005 2004–2005 Vendée Globe IMOCA 60 Bonduelle 87d 17h 20m 08s 10 1982 Whitbread Round the World Race Maxi Euromarché skippered by Transatlantic Races32 2023 Retour à la baseIMOCA 60 Tout commence en Finistère - Armor-lux18d 5h 37m 24s 13 2019 Transat Jacques Vabre IMOCA 60 Corum l'épargne (2007) with 1 2013 Transat Jacques Vabre IMOCA 60 PRB 5 with 6 2010 Transat AG2R Beneteau Figaro 2 ABN 2009 Transat Jacques Vabre Multi 50 Actual with 5 2008 Transat AG2R Beneteau Figaro 2 Cercle Vert 23d 01h 31m 45s with 4 2007 Transat Jacques Vabre IMOCA 60 VM Matériaux with 2 2006 Route du Rhum IMOCA 60 Bonduelle 12d 12h 26m 53s 3 2005 Transat Jacques Vabre IMOCA 60 Bonduelle with ABN 2002 Route du Rhum IMOCA 60 Bonduelle 4 2001 Transat Jacques Vabre IMOCA 60 Bonduelle with 4 1999 Transat Jacques Vabre IMOCA 60 Sill Entreprise with 5 1996 Transat AG2R Beneteau Figaro Guy Cotten - Chattawak 24d 13h 20m 09s with 1 1994 Transat AG2R Beneteau Figaro Sill plein fruit - France III 20d 20h 34m 26s with 5 1992 Transat AG2R Beneteau Figaro sur Mory with Other significant races Formula 40 World Championship Formula 40
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