Yves Parlier is an engineer in composite materials and is passionate about sailing. He is the mythical holder of a large number of victories in ocean races.
In 1985, at the age of 24, he won his first race on his own boat: the Mini-Transat. From 1991 onwards, he won one victory after another and became one of the most popular skippers. In addition to sails and wind, he is passionate about extreme sports and practices paragliding.
In 1998, he fell 200 metres while trying a new sail. He did not give up and on 5 November 2000, he was at the starting line for the Vendée Globe. After three weeks at the head of the race, he dismasted off the Kerguelen Islands where he repaired his mast himself and resumed the race. He finished 13th in the rankings but won the race on his own.
After these years of monohull competition, Yves Parlier set off on new adventures. He created the first 60-foot hydroplane catamaran. In 2006, Yves won the record for the longest distance sailed in 24 hours, first with a crew and then solo. In 2007, he turned to kite traction. Thanks to all his experience and skills acquired during his career, he created the LibertyKite® kite without autopilot, then the Beyond the Sea® company and its SeaKite® system, an autopilot system for kitesurfing boats of all sizes.