Let’s go ! The skippers of the 15th edition of the Transat Jacques-Vabre will set off at the start of the afternoon on Sunday 7 November from Le Havre (Seine-Maritime), to reach Martinique as quickly as possible. The fleet will first pass the Etretat buoy to leave the Channel and then head towards the Brittany point. Watch and listen to our live streams on franceinfo channels.
The fleet. From the Paul Vatine basin in Le Havre, 79 boats will compete. They will be divided into qFour categories: Ultimes and Ocean Fifty for multihulls, and Imoca and Class 40 for monohulls. The Ultimes (five boats competing) must cover 7,500 nautical miles (13,890 km), it will be 5,800 nm (10,741 km) for the Imoca (22 boats) and the Ocean Fifty (seven boats) which will do the same course, and 4,600 nm (8,519 km) for Class 40 (45 boats).
Arrival in Martinique. It is the bay of Fort-de-France that will welcome for the first time the arrival of the longest and most demanding duo transatlantic, with the promise of a nice spectacle. The finish of the race was usually reserved for South American countries and in particular Brazil for historical reasons. Indeed, this race is nicknamed “the coffee route” because it traces the route that ships took in the 18th and 19th centuries to export coffee from South America to the port of Le Havre.
There have never been so many participants. With 79 boats registered for 158 skippers for this 15th edition (compared to 60 boats for 120 skippers in 2019), the race has reached a new record.