Born in 1959 in La Clusaz, Philippe Monnet took part in freestyle skiing and show jumping before turning to sailing, which he discovered around sixteen in Cannes.
In 1988 he attempted a solo round-the-world voyage on the trimaran Kriter Brut de Brut, completing it in 129 days with two stops. He also tried the Gold Route (1989) and the Tea Route (1990) on multihulls.
In 1998 he finished 6th in the monohull class of the Route du Rhum aboard Uunet. In 2000, on the same monohull, he set the east-to-west solo round-the-world record in 151 days 19 h 54 min, beaten in 2004 by Jean-Luc Van Den Heede.
He also raced the 2003 Transat Jacques Vabre with Laurent Bourgnon on Sopra Group, and the 2010 Route du Rhum. As a rally-raid co-driver he won the Dakar in 1992 with Hubert Auriol and in 1999 with Jean-Louis Schlesser.
