
Christopher Pratt
Crew
Date of birth: 15 January 1981
Place of birth: Marseille
I’m 44, professional sailor and founder of Marsail, a leadership company that uses offshore sailing as a powerful metaphor to train C-levels and teams. I also lead scientific research on strategic decision-making. As you may guess by my name, I’m Franco-British (fluent but not native as my mother didn’t speak me in English when I was a kid) and very comfortable in multicultural environments.
Above all, I’m a proud father of three: Lucile (17), Tessa (13), and Liam (3). My family and company are based in Marseille, but I’ve spent almost half my time in Brittany — mostly Lorient — over the past 25 years sailing various offshore projects.
I started on my parents’ cruising boat, then moved to competitive dinghy sailing, becoming french Champion and Vice-World Champion in the 420 class. I joined the Figaro circuit at 19 and became a professional sailor at 22.
"Being part of an Ocean Race team has been a dream of mine since I was a kid. That dream partly came true during The Ocean Race 2023, when I joined Team Malizia for Leg 4. But being involved in a full campaign is a whole new step forward.
I’ve known Nick for several years, and I believe he’s followed my journey. So when it came time to bring experienced IMOCA crew onboard, I was honored that my application caught his attention.
Now, after a few weeks working with the team, I can truly say it’s incredibly exciting to be part of such a kind, professional, and international group. I’m learning a lot—both from the shore crew and my fellow sailors—and I can’t wait to be on the starting line, ready to give it my all.
I’m proud to contribute to our shared mission: spreading the message “Be Water Positive” across Europe"
Sailing highlights
For over 15 years, I’ve been involved in the IMOCA circuit as skipper or co-skipper :
- 2009–2010: DCNS – Transat Jacques Vabre & Route du Rhum
- 2011–2012: Banque Populaire – TJV podium & spare skipper for Armel on Vendée Globe
- 2013–2014: Maître CoQ – TJV podium & spare skipper for Jérémie on Route du Rhum
- 2016: Return to solo Figaro racing
- 2017: TJV in Multi50 (capsize)
- 2018–2021: Charal – 2 TJV podiums, winner of the Fastnet and Défi Azimut, spare skipper for Jérémie on Vendée Globe
- 2022–2023: Co-skipper with Maxime Sorel on VBMM, crew member onboard Malizia for The Ocean Race, crew member for Spindrift’s Jules Verne Trophy attempt
- 2024: Skipper of my Ocean Fifty Wind of Trust, spare skipper for Groupe Dubreuil and Holcim-PRB (Vendée Globe)
- Currently leading an Ocean Fifty project for the 2026 Route du Rhum.