The skipper of the boat

Jean-François Clavel

Leaving for several days of cruising, you certainly want to know who you are going to spend your vacation with. The purpose of this chapter is to introduce myself and present my other activities in the nautical field.

In 1992, while still a student at 'Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan' (a renowned French school of engineering for mechanical engineering) and just after I got my teacher certification in Mechanical Engineering, I discovered sailing during a round trip cruise between France and Iceland organized by the school's sailing club. Former top athlete, avid traveler, ocean navigation has been a revelation to me.

I started my teaching career at the 'Ecole Nationale Supérieur d'Hydraulique et de Mécanique de Grenoble' (hydraulic and mechanical engineering school in Grenoble, France) while working in research on behavior patterns of materials in high deformation, at the 3S (Ground, Solid, Structure) laboratory, attached to the school. Subsequently, I got a tenured post at the University of Toulon allowing me to live my passion while continuing to teach Maintenance and Materials.

In 1995, I bought my first boat, "Sapeto", a 33-feet polyester monohull. Seven years of life on board, four years of travel, three transatlantics, two years of work on the boat allowed me to complement my knowledge of sailing and the sea.

In 2004, after two years living in Brazil, I sold "Sapeto" to design and build "Kawai", a long-cruise catamaran, light and high performance. The positive feedback on this achievement from marine professionals and boaters drove me to settle in the West Indies to live my passion for boats and the sea.

On the last eighteen years, I've been living about eleven years aboard a sailboat, and during the four years spent on land, the first half were devoted to refit my first boat, and the other half to build my second.

www.moonlightsailing.com is the website of my company:

Plasticonsult Marina pointe du bout
97229 Trois Ilets

See you soon on 'Kawai'.

Some key dates

1969	Born in Montpellier
1977	Conservatory of Music in Vienna
1989	1st of overall rankings Coupe de France Freestyle ski (jump)
1989/92	Ecole Normale Sup de Cachan (major of promo)
1991	Training in engineering (Canada)
	Transsahara in Peugeot 504 (Paris - Niamey)
1992	Teacher certification in Mechanical Engineering
	First navigation (roundtrip France - Iceland)
1993	Organization of humanitarian convoy in Yugoslavia (Secours Populaire Français)
1994	Teaching at ENSHMG (Grenoble)
	Research at Laboratory 3S (Soils, Solids and Structures)
1995	Teaching at the University of Toulon
	Purchase of 'Sapeto' (33-feet polyester Monohull)
1996/98	Transatlantic trips (Toulon-France, Gibraltar, Canary Islands, Senegal, Cape Verde, Caribbean, Azores, Brest-France)
1997	Transatlantic in solo
2002/04	Transatlantic trip (Le Havre-France, Canaries, Cape Verde, Brazil, French Guiana)
2004/06	Building of catamaran 'Kawai' (Brazil)
2007	Creation of Plasticonsult - Shipbuilding and architecture, Engineering, sailboat rentals
2008	Refit Trimaran 60 'ORMA' Madinina ' (carbon sandwich)
2010	Development of the cruising activity
2014	Training in paragliding