Marcus Hutchinson of Howth and Kinsale is leaving France's TR Racing, where he was team manager for Thomas Ruyant during the last Vendée Globe campaign.
Hutchinson took on the role in January 2018 and is credited by solo skipper Ruyant as being one of the linchpins of the team's performance.
As regular Afloat readers will know, the Hutchinson-managed Vendee Globe-entered IMOCA 60 provided major publicity for the not-for-profit social organisation LinkedOut.
Of his TR departure, Hutchinson said (in a post translated from French) "We started from scratch in January 2018. We didn't even have a screwdriver in our name when Thomas and Laurent Bourguès asked me to join them," “Thomas had a very clear vision and great motivation to set up a successful project off the beaten track. Together, in "start-up" mode, we have put together a great team and we have built a beautiful boat with the support of Advens. We did quite well in sporting terms with fine podiums, successful competitions and a landslide victory in the Transat Jacques Vabre. We can also be proud to have generated enormous media value around our project, directly broadcast to a very important societal cause, and all this in a difficult context linked to the health crisis.
“I would like to thank Thomas and his entourage for giving me this opportunity, for having confidence in my choices and for having shared this adventure with so much class. I wish the TR Racing team all the best for the future. I know they will continue to do great things on the water and on land. Thanks again and keep doing better and better".
Ruyant said “For many years, Marcus has done a lot of good for French sailing, bringing his vision to our community and encouraging foreign sailors to join our circuits, particularly on the Solitaire du Figaro. I met him when he was in charge of the Figaro Artemis. He joined TR Racing at the start of our 2020 Vendée Globe campaign. We are starting a new cycle in our operation with the rise of our team, our coming season aboard our LinkedOut sailboat, the construction of Advens 2 for the next World Tour. I wish good luck to Marcus for the rest of his great journey".
Hutchinson has worked on five America's Cup events during his career, and has been coach and mentor for major solo ocean racing campaigns including the Figaro and Vendée Globe and spoke to Afloat's Lorna Siggins in a podcast here in 2021 about Ireland's prospects of hosting the America's Cup.