Team Zephir Project : meet the people behind the adventure, founders and key people
The Zephir Project team: an on-board crew mixing founders and key contributors. Highlighting your own teammates, their backgrounds and expertise is essential — yet never easy. Our on-board team brings together a wealth of accumulated experience. Each person contributes a unique trajectory, sharp expertise, and above all a part of what makes a human adventure truly beautiful: trust, generosity, and a shared desire to move forward.
Beyond titles and competencies, what unites us is a golden thread — shared values and the pleasure of sailing together: humility in the face of the elements, passing knowledge to younger generations, respect for nature, and commitment to the noblest of causes.
Here are the people who form the heart of our Zephir Project Team.
Our core team
Marc Amerigo
Co-founder · Project Leader
Engineer from Centrale Lyon, entrepreneur since 2002, Marc has spent 30 years leading complex industrial projects — aeronautics, nuclear, naval — between world speed records in extreme sports. He leads the Leadership track of the École Polytechnique Executive Master program and is the author of “The Quest of UltraPerformance” (2025). Together with Antoine, he co-founded Zephir Project in 2020 to reconcile high performance and ecoresponsibility. (website marc-amerigo.com)
Antoine Albeau
Co-founder · Windsurfing Legend
The most decorated French athlete in history with 27 world titles in windsurfing, Antoine set his world speed record on December 1st 2024 at 53.49 knots (99.06 km/h) and became World Champion again in May 2025. On the Île de Ré as well as in the Mediterranean, his board is Zephir Project’s living laboratory — every session a real-world experiment pushing the boundaries of speed. Together with Marc, he co-founded Zephir Project to drive high-performance windsurfing innovation towards ecoresponsible solutions. (wikipedia profile).
Olivier Ponrouch
Custom Fin Designer · Founder of UFO
Custom windsurf fin designer for high-performance sailing, Olivier is the founder of UFO — Ultimate Fins Original. A recognised specialist in speed and slalom, carbon prepreg and asymmetric profiles, he signs the fins on which Antoine Albeau delivers his best performances. Marc and Olivier reconnected at the start of Zephir Project, 30 years after designing prototypes together as engineering students. A key hydrodynamic pillar of the adventure.
Pierre Schmitz
Team rider · Rising French talent
At 20, Pierre is one of France’s most promising talents in wingfoil, having previously competed in traditional windsurfing and then windfoil at the French National Training Centre in La Rochelle (aged 17). First French Junior Champion in wingfoil in 2024, winner of the Défi Wing U19 in 2024, best world performance in wingfoil speed over 500m in 2025. From the Île de Ré, he trains alongside Antoine Albeau and plays a key role as team rider in the development and testing of Zephir Project equipment.
Hermès Garanger
Communication & Image Production · SEM PROD
A television producer for 25 years, trained in neuroscience, Hermès brings her director’s eye and mastery of storytelling to Zephir Project. Through SEM PROD, she crafts the images that allow media, partners and the public to experience the adventure — from wind tunnel tests to open-sea records. Her human sensitivity and professional rigour have contributed to the 200 million people reached by Zephir Project. She also became, at 19, the youngest Western female Lama. (profil wikipedia).
Emmanuel Ferton
BackOffice · Strategy & Development
A companion from day one, Emmanuel was already sharing with Marc the dream of windsurf speed records as an engineering student in 1992. Thirty years later, he is the friend and discreet partner who helps weigh and make the right calls on strategic, administrative and financial matters. A Grenoble native with a lifelong passion for gliding sports, now based in California where he works in biotechnology, he knows the business world and the keys to development in line with our values.
And some of the amazing people in our wider team
Richard Bord
Official Photographer
10 years of friendship and shared adventures with Richard Bord, starting with Éric Barone’s final records in 2015-2017, and for several years now his eye and sensitivity have accompanied Zephir Project. Spanning extreme sports and fashion, a Getty Images contributor, he takes part in the world’s greatest sporting events from the Olympic Games to Fashion Week. On Zephir test sessions, he chases THE pictures that he has in mind… And he captures the raw emotion of key moments. Without his images, the adventure would not carry the same media impact. (website richardbord.com)
Benjamin Le Ster
Animation movie Wizard
A recognised master of animation — “Minions”, “Despicable Me”, “Mario” — Benjamin introduced himself with characteristic modesty: “Hi Marc, I make a few animated films…” (LOL). When a world-class animator turns out to be a windsurfing addict, things can only go well — and they did. Our wind tunnel campaigns, our gigabytes of data capturing the behaviour of sails, the movements of Antoine and Pierre at speed — it is his expertise he puts to the test in the Zephir Project quest, turning raw data into powerful visual narratives that make the invisible visible. Benjamin, we love you! (LinkedIn)
Clodoald Robert
Director of the IAT-CNAM Wind Tunnels
A passionate connection rooted in the speed records with Éric Barone, Clodoald directs the Institut Aérotechnique du CNAM in Saint-Cyr-l’École, whose first wind tunnel was built by Gustave Eiffel in 1914. He orchestrates our measurement campaigns across wind tunnels S4, S6 and S10 depending on our technical needs — each session a new step in understanding the aerodynamics of speed. Friendly ties between the Île de Ré and Centrale Lyon have made this collaboration one of the most rewarding of the Zephir adventure. (IAT-CNAM)
The ALTEN Engineers
Numerical Simulation – Data – Ecodesign
Having become a GOLD partner of Zephir Project in 2024 with both technical and financial support, it is always a renewed pleasure to share technical discoveries together. Our friendly relationship and shared trust are also an important driving force. The Group brings its digital expertise and specialised engineering resources to explore the future of high-performance ecoresponsible innovation. ALTEN teams are fully part of the Zephir Project team, contributing to 3D aerodynamic and hydrodynamic simulation, multi-physics analysis, ecodesign and smart sensors. ALTEN is the global leader in engineering and technology services with 57,000 employees worldwide. (website alten.com)
The Data Scientists at BPCE Solutions informatiques
Data Analysis – AI Models
The teams alongside Alain Seux-Bos and Benjamin Bortot are actively involved in data processing and Artificial Intelligence. Their rigour and expertise led to the development of a promising numerical speed prediction model with remarkable 2-second precision. Well beyond financial and technical support, strong friendly ties have been forged. The technology subsidiary of Groupe BPCE (France’s 2nd largest banking group), BPCE Solutions Informatiques became our first Privilège GOLD partner in 2023, and we sincerely thank them for their renewed trust. (website BPCE SI)
The IT specialists of the BECHTLE Group
Hardware – Software – Cybersecurity
The BECHTLE Group joins Zephir Project in 2025 as a GOLD partner, also bringing the invaluable support of its ecosystem and French operating entities: Inmac Wstore, Bechtle Direct France, Bechtle Comsoft, Apixit. Hardware partnerships with HP and Crosscall, for example, are a direct result of this partnership. And strong human bonds at the heart of the Zephir Project team, in a demanding IT environment. With 16,000 employees and €8 billion in revenue (2024), the BECHTLE Group is the European leader in its sector. (website bechtle.com)
A few key technical partners and cool faces!
Neo Sailing Technologies
NST Racing / NST Lab / NST Academy
SBG Systems
Inertial sensors
Forward WIP
Protection & safety for nautical sports
Jonathan & Fletcher
SpeedSuits for riders / Sea & Mountain
Camping La Tour des Prises
Logistical support on the Île de Ré, France
