Navigator Kevin Escoffier was sanctioned on Friday October 20 with an eighteen-month suspension from all competition by the French Sailing Federation (FFVoile) after accusations of sexual violence against several women, Agence France-Presse learned ( AFP), information of which Le Monde has confirmed.
On the basis of testimonies, the FFVoile accused Kevin Escoffier of “inappropriate behavior” during an evening in a bar in Newport (United States) in May towards a young woman from his team, who described having suffered a sexual assault. Several other women then spoke of non-consensual touching on the part of the Breton sailor.
The navigator “who maintains his strongest protests and intends to be completely exonerated” will appeal this decision, said his lawyer, Virginie Le Roy, in a press release sent to AFP.
Shipwrecked in the last Vendée Globe
According to Le Parisien, Kevin Escoffier was also given a temporary suspension of his license for five years, as well as a ten-year ineligibility for the federation’s governing bodies. Contacted by AFP on Friday, FFVoile did not wish to comment on this decision.
Kevin Escoffier left the Holcim-PRB team at the beginning of June, while he was competing at the helm of the monohull The Ocean Race, a crewed round-the-world race with stopovers. He had already been one of the heroes of the last edition of the Vendée Globe. Shipwrecked in the storm off the Cape of Good Hope, he jumped into his life raft before being rescued at the last minute by sailor Jean Le Cam.
