A committed skipper

Conrad Colman was born in Auckland, New Zealand, to an American father and a New Zealand mother. He spent the first months of his life at sea while his parents sailed the Pacific. The sudden death of his father when he was only 11 months old brought the journey to an abrupt end, and he returned to in Auckland.

His family loved sailing, and Conrad took his first steps in the sport at an early age, spending all his summers sailing around New Zealand. His grandfather, who was in the navy, built his own boats in his garden, and Conrad's love of sailing was born.

However, at the age of 15, he decided to explore his American roots and moved to the United States, where he attended boarding school during his high school years and then university. As a political science student in Colorado, he spent a few years away from the sea but discovered a passion for cycling. On the roads and trails, he took advantage of the extraordinary mountain playground to test his endurance. He and another student set up a small business manufacturing titanium bicycle frames before the call of the sea led him to his next adventure.

He crossed the Atlantic, settling on the Isle of Wight, where he obtained his Yachmasters certificate, which allowed him to work as a skipper and cruising instructor. He taught cruising sailing and learned the trade of master sailmaker at a local loft. It was a friend who told him about the Mini 6.50 Class and inspired him to take the plunge into solo racing.
Sponsors enabled him to buy a production boat, on which he lived for a year during his first Mini 6.50 season. Then everything fell into place and he had the opportunity to compete in the Route du Rhum in Class40 and then the Global Ocean Race, a double-handed round-the-world race with stopovers, which he won after nine intense months of racing.
His experience around the world opened new doors for him and he sailed with a crew before having the opportunity to participate, with Nandor Fa, in his first IMOCA round-the-world race: the Barcelona World Race. This race, rich in learning experiences, confirmed his desire to pursue his Vendée Globe dreams and sail an IMOCA around the world solo!

Thanks to loyal partners, in 2015 he acquired a second-generation IMOCA with the aim of participating in the Vendée Globe in 2016. He lined up at the starting line with a small budget and an old boat, but with a clear ambition: to finish the race without using fossil fuels. In a race full of twists and turns, he pushed his limits by finishing the race under jury rig, having been dismasted, in 10th position just a few days before the finish.

A break was needed after a very trying year and race, Conrad joined the communications team of the Volvo Ocean Race (now known as The Ocean Race) to bring his sailing expertise to the 2017/2018 race. He moved temporarily to Alicante, where his first child was born. This experience as an expert journalist gave him greater confidence in front of the cameras, a very rewarding interlude.

Unable to compete in the 2020 Vendée Globe due to a lack of funding, he took the opportunity to sail on other boats (Figaro, Volvo65) and continued his search for funds to participate in the next edition. Through perseverance, he gathered the necessary partners to set sail again on an IMOCA in 2021. He then took part in a series of transatlantic and local races in order to qualify once again for the Vendée Globe “Everest of the seas”.

Conrad set sail again in November 2024 with the aim of completing the race without fossil fuels and also securing a podium place for « Daggerboard boats “ (the fleet at the start of the race includes boats that meet a common rating, but some of the boats, the most recent ones, have foils, appendages that allow them to be faster than their ”cousins" with daggerboards). He finished 4th among the daggerboard boats, just 13 minutes behind Jean Le Cam, a great battle after 85 days at sea!