During a day at sea off the coast of La Ciotat, We Rock Sport climbed aboard Koesio, a racing boat helmed by Erwan Le Roux. Entering this year's Ocean Fifty Series, the skipper is preparing to hand over the helm of his trimaran to Audrey Ogereau, who was on board that day to continue her progress on this multihull. Her goal is to compete solo in the Route du Rhum 2026 on this same Koesio.
As you sail along the port of La Ciotat, you can already make out the boat on the horizon, towering over the Mediterranean. In purple and white, she gradually reveals her colors and the height of her mast. The Ocean Fifty Koesio belongs to the 15-meter class of ocean-going multihulls (15.24 m long and 15.20 m wide). Erwan Le Roux is the main skipper of this racing trimaran. We join the two-time winner of the Route du Rhum after a zodiac link-up that takes us to this superb multihull. The closer we get, the more we become aware of the boat's dimensions and sharp fuselage. There's no doubt about it: this is a racing trimaran, built mainly of fiberglass and carbon.
On this day, there are three of them on the boat. Erwan Le Roux and Audrey Ogereau share the helm, and Grégoire Aubert is responsible for the electronics and onboard systems. For the Koesio team, the off-season has begun after a year spent in the Ocean Fifty Series. This championship is contested in five acts: a Transat West-East in the North Atlantic, three grand prix and a Mediterranean crossing. The event is based on a set of rules designed to guarantee an affordable budget for companies investing as boat sponsors. For its part, Koesio can look back on a successful season, finishing second overall (out of 10 competitors).
Once aboard, the presence of a steering wheel is immediately apparent. Koesio is the only boat in the Ocean Fifty class to benefit from this innovation. It's a steering wheel with increased intelligence, reducing weight and, above all, positioning the helm in the desired direction (whereas the skipper steers in profile in the traditional way). We were able to test it for a short time, and the sensation of being able to steer the boat precisely along the chosen axis is quite impressive, as is the fluidity of the system. There's virtually no latency between turning the wheel and the boat changing course.
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After getting our bearings on board, we settle down next to the cockpit, in a privileged position to observe the work of Audrey Ogereau, who won't be sparing her efforts on this day. The 32-year-old Frenchwoman has just returned from a busy season, co-skippering Erwan Le Roux on this boat for the past two years and also taking part in the women's America's Cup aboard the French AC40 "Orient Express". While she's obviously already well established on the Koesio trimaran, this week in November is all about "false solo" training (with Erwan still on board, but only providing rare but invaluable advice). In less than two years, she'll be at the helm for the Route du Rhum 2026. The succession between the Morbihan native and the woman who lives in La Ciotat has thus begun.
"A project like this is unbelievable," admits Audrey Ogereau, who finally touches down after three hours' sailing, during which she will have multiplied her maneuvers, changed sails, passed close to the buoys indicated by Erwan, and grinded the central column (aptly named the "coffee grinder") that operates the four winches that reduce the pull exerted by the skipper on the ropes used to control the sails.
"The boat is superb and the race circuit we're taking part in is really stimulating. At the start of my adventure with Erwan and Koesio, I started with partner days, then I took part in regattas and Erwan suggested I double-handed. Taking part in the Route du Rhum was a dream, and now it's become a reality. I'm going to continue learning from him, just as we do here in La Ciotat.
A woman at the helm of a large multihull is still a rarity in the world of competitive sailing. "In the Vendée Globe, there were six women taking part in the last edition, and there are six again this year," says Erwan Le Roux. "We need to get things moving so that women can take their place in this sport. And that means passing on knowledge, as I'm currently doing with Audrey. That doesn't mean I'm stopping on my own. It's not a change of skipper, it's continuity. When I presented the idea of handing over to Audrey for the Route du Rhum, Koesio was immediately enthusiastic. So we got right down to it.
"I'm still new to ocean racing," adds Audrey. "I have a lot of parameters to learn. The weather, routing, sleep and effort management, or the constant attention I need to pay to the boat... Because Koesio is a trimaran that can really turn over, unlike a boat with a keel that lies down and straightens out." As for what can be done to enable women to take their place even more fully in competitive sailing, Erwan explains that he has evolved on the question of women's 100% championships (as is the case, for example, on the America's Cup). "I think it's a useful way for them to evolve in an environment that gives them more confidence to start with. Sharing a common experience with other women often enables them to pass important milestones." The Koesio co-skippers now have a date with the next Ocean Fifty Series season and the Transat Jacques-Vabre in 2025. Before Audrey takes the trimaran from Saint-Malo to Pointe-à-Pitre in 2026 for the famous Route du Rhum.
