modified start, favorites, new features… What you need to know about the 2023 edition

The big start of the Transat Jacques Vabre 2023 is fast approaching. Sunday October 29, nearly 200 sailors will set sail from the port of Le Havre, in Normandy, with the aim of reaching Martinique. The fastest sailboats are expected at the finish line around November 12 in Fort-de-France. Franceinfo: sport gives you all the information you need to know before the start of the race, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

Weather conditions have long cast doubt on the day of departure

Wind gusts of up to 110 km/h, waves of three meters and a tidal coefficient of 104. This is what sailors were still promised on Wednesday. Very unstable weather conditions which gave rise to the threat of a postponement of the big start. But the next day, the forecasts became more lenient, even if the start of the race still promises to be very tough.

“The 16th edition will take place on Sunday. In view of the expected weather conditions, the Etretat buoy has been removed and the coastal route shortened. 25 knots of South-South West wind are expected on Sunday at midday on the line The classic sail towards Etretat before heading west would certainly have been quick, but it was running the risk of taking the fleet close to the coast and its immediate dangers, with no possibility of avoidance in the event of a problem. “explained the organizers, who therefore made a small modification to the route, two days before the start.

Who will succeed Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelier?

Two years after the coronation of Charles Caudrelier and Franck Cammas, there are five pairs of contenders for final victory in the Ultim category, that of the fastest boats. There will be at least one new winner in this race which is contested as a duo since Charles Caudrelier this time took Erwan Israel with him (Maxi Edmond de Rothschild). The other highly anticipated tandem in this category is made up of Armel Le Cléac’h and Sébastien Josse (Banque populaire).

There will also be some good people among the Imoca boats, including the winner of the last edition of the Vendée Globe, Yannick Bestaven, entered alongside Julien Pulvé (Maître Coq V). Franck Cammas chose this category to compete, alongside Jérémie Beyou (Charal 2). He is aiming for a fifth victory on the Coffee Route, which would allow him to become the sole record holder for success in all categories (he is currently tied with Jean-Pierre Dick). For the first time, a visually impaired sailor from birth will appear in the starting fleet, Joël Paris, alongside Jérôme Ragimbeau in the other monohull category, that of the Class40.

For the first time, there will be a start for each category

Not everyone will set sail at the same time on Sunday. A departure time has been set for each of the four categories, and this is a first. The fastest boats will be the first to leave, first the Ultim at 1:05 p.m. Then, every twelve minutes, the other three categories will follow with the Ocean Fifty at 1:17 p.m., the Imoca at 1:29 p.m., then the Class40 at 1:41 p.m.

Each category will have to follow its own path. “The Class 40s will remain in the North Atlantic with more than 4,500 miles to go, with a passage through the island of Sal, which makes the Coffee Route the longest deckchair. The Ocean Fifty and Imoca will make a detour through the South Atlantic with a passage through the Brazilian archipelago of Sao Paolo and Sao Pedro for the monohulls and a passage through the island of Fernando de Noronha for the multihulls. A route which will force them to compete in pairs once the Doldrums and cover nearly 6,000 nautical miles. The Ultims will go even further south, to Ascension Island, before heading back towards Martinique with around 7,000 miles ahead of their bows.”details the Transat website.