Axel Trehin

Correction9 Nov 2026

• BiographyAxel Tréhin is a French Class40 skipper based in La Trinité-sur-Mer. Unable to find a school for becoming an offshore racer, at 19 he put his first yard wages, 2,000 euros, into buying a wrecked Mini 6.50, which he rebuilt over three years. Hooked on competition, he went on to a series of projects with ever larger boats, keeping a dual role as sailor and builder that lets him know his boats inside out. His current Class40, Exalt, was born after a fire in which he lost everything. He lists among his results wins in the Fastnet Race, the Normandy Channel Race and the Spi Ouest-France in 2025, plus 2nd in the Transat Café L'Or that year. In 2026 he takes part in his second Route du Rhum, after finishing 10th in 2022. Axel Tréhin is a French Class40 skipper based in La Trinité-sur-Mer. Unable to find a school for becoming an offshore racer, at 19 he used his first yard wages to buy a wrecked Mini 6.50, which he rebuilt over three years. He trained in boatbuilding with a BTS in Saint-Nazaire, then specialised in composites in Brest, before working at the AMCO yard in La Trinité-sur-Mer. Hooked on competition, he went on to ever larger boats that he builds himself: after his first Mini came two more Minis of his own build, including the one on which he finished second in the 2019 Mini Transat, then a David Raison-designed Class40 scow in Project Rescue Ocean colours, and finally a Lombard-designed Lift V3. Being both sailor and builder lets him know his boats inside out. In his first Route du Rhum, in 2022, he finished 10th in Class40. Settled in Erdeven since 2022, he lost his workshop, tools and home in a fire on 10 April 2025. The rebuild of his Class40, Exalt, began in August 2025 and took nine months, until its launch in April 2026. In 2025, with Corentin Douguet, he won the Fastnet Race, the Normandy Channel Race and the Spi Ouest-France among others, and finished 2nd in the Transat Café L'Or, seven minutes behind the winner. In 2026 he is racing his second Route du Rhum aboard Exalt.