Yvan Bourgnon
Chairman and Founder
A talented Franco-Swiss skipper, Yvan Bourgnon started sailing at the age of eight with his parents for a round-the-world voyage where he discovered the ocean that he would never leave.
Over the course of his career, Yvan has built up an impressive racing record in sports multihulls and also in offshore races on the most performing boats.
With his elder brother, Laurent Bourgnon, he won the Transat Jacques-Vabre in 1997.
Holder of several world records, he pushes sailing to the extreme by embarking on a series of unprecedented solo adventures on his uninhabitable catamaran, without instruments, including a round-the-world race from 2013 to 2015 and the Northwest Passage linking Greenland to Alaska in 2017.
These exploits were unanimously acclaimed throughout the world.
Today, with The SeaCleaners, of which he is Chairman and Founder, he is taking on a new environmental challenge and wishes to develop an effective and concrete solution to combat plastic pollution in the seas: the Manta project.
“I have been travelling the oceans since I was 8 years old. I've seen them deteriorate, warm up, acidify and become plasticised. I created the association The SeaCleaners to fight against this global scourge with the desire to create a revolutionary ship, a pioneer in the collection of plastic waste, the Manta. Today, The SeaCleaners is fighting on all fronts: awareness and prevention, the dissemination of scientific knowledge, the transition to a circular economy, and the collection of waste on land and at sea. With three watchwords to guide our approach: taking action, finding solutions, refusing resignation. ”
Governance
To carry out its missions, The SeaCleaners relies on solid governance.
The Board of Directors ensures the efficiency and transparency of the association's management and the speed of decision-making.
The Board of Directors is composed of 9 members of the association elected by the General Assembly. These 9 personalities, with varied personal and professional backgrounds, have one thing in common: they contribute to strengthening the missions of The SeaCleaners thanks to their expertise, their skills, their network, and their commitment.
The Board of Directors’ mission is to implement the decisions taken by the General Assembly and to ensure their follow-up, in conjunction with the General Management.
It ensures the execution of the policy defined at the General Assembly and the main strategic orientations, adopts the budget and annual accounts, validates the recruitment of salaried staff, decides on the admission of members, etc. The SeaCleaners’ Board of Directors is also the only body empowered to suspend or terminate a sponsorship agreement in accordance with The SeaCleaners’ Sponsorship Charter.
Board of Directors
President - Board Member
Yvan Bourgnon
Vice President - Board Member
Patrick Watrin
Treasurer - Member of the Board
Benoit de Lamberterie
Secretary - Board Member
Ghislaine Bovy
Member of the Board
Pascal Boisgard
Member of the Board
Anne Cullerre
Member of the Board
François Galgani
Member of the Board
Karim Essemiani
Member of the Board
Fréderic Pichonnat
Scientific Advisory Board
The International Scientific Advisory Board is made up of internationally recognized scientific researchers, with complementary expertise on marine plastic pollution.
The International Scientific Advisory Board (ISAB) reflects our wish to base our projects on a rigorous scientific approach and to offer the international scientific community the opportunity to collect quality data on marine plastic pollution.
Its missions :
- To set the scientific roadmap of the association
- To lead research projects
- To Define the scope of the scientific missions onboard the Manta
- To facilitate the integration of local scientific networks
Project Manager, IFREMER
Dr. François GALGANI
Professor Emeritus, IMT Atlantiqueue
Professor René GARELLO
Expert in circular economy, eco-design, public policy and commercial analysis
Dr. Bernard GINDROZ
Senior Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO
Dr. Britta Denise HARDESTY
Professor, Nantes University
Professor Jean LE BIDEAU
Physical oceanographer, The Ocean Cleanup
Laurent LEBRETON
Senior Oceanographer & Project Manager CLS Groupe
Dr. Marc Lucas
Physical Oceanographer, IRD
Dr Christophe MAES
Marine and fishery resource conservation economist, KKP
Dr. Umi MUAWANAH
Bio-geochemist and oceanographer, Hawai'i Pacific University
Dr. Sarah-Jeanne ROYER
International Expert - Algae Processes & Products, CEA
Dr. Jean Francois SASSI, PhD
PhD Candidate, University of West Brittany
Odeline BILLANT
Founder of Mer-Terre Association
Dr. Isabelle POITOU
Team
Philanthropy manager
Marie-Emilie Daniel
Chairman TSC Swiss
Maurice Hoffstetter
Philanthropy Officer
Julie Laporte
Stage Manager
Gwenaël Le Corre
Head of Operations
Eric Le Plomb
Honorary Treasurer
David Mason