unprecedented arrival in Martinique, the ambitions of Cammas and Gabart, the beautiful story of the Courtois sisters… What you need to know about the 2021 edition

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The start of a great adventure. Sunday November 7 from 1:30 p.m., 79 boats and 158 skippers will set off from the port of Le Havre to participate in the 15th edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre. A race synonymous with novelty (remodeled course and original final destination), competitiveness (several favorites including the Cammas-Caudrelier duo), and great stories (the Courtois sisters, the adventure of Clément Giraud). Franceinfo: sport takes stock of all the elements to know about the double-handed transatlantic race.

Class40, Imoca, Ocean Fifty, Ultime … Four categories and different yachts

Four classes of sailboats take the start of the race. The Class40, a 40-foot (12.19 m) monohull, was introduced in the early 2000s and has won over many sailors, amateurs and professionals alike, for its value for money. The Ocean Fifty is a 50-foot (15.24 m) multihull, capable of reaching speeds of over 30 knots.

The Imoca are 60 feet, or 18.288 meters. Very wide in relation to their length, they are optimized to face strong winds. The Ultimes, grouping together the largest multihulls, are very fast and reach up to 32 m in length. Giants of the seas.

Cammas-Caudrelier for a revenge, Le Cléac’h-Escoffier and Laperche-Gabart in ambush

They are the new giants of the seas, the stars of the waves. In the Ultimate category, the sailboat Gitana 17, second in 2017 with Sébastien Josse and Thomas Rouxel, is now in the hands of Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelier, who intend to play for the win. The duo Cammas-Caudrelier remains on good performances including a title on the occasion of the Rolex Fastnet Race 2019, with the record of the event as a bonus. But SVR Lazartigue, by Tom Laperche and François Gabart (winner of the 2015 edition), is also a good contender for first place, as are Banque Populaire d’Armel Le Cléac’h and Kevin Escoffier, winners of the Défi Azimut Ultim in September.

In Imoca, Charlie Dalin, defending champion and now associated with Paul Meilhat on Apivia, can aim for a double. In Ocean Fifty, the Britannic Sam Goodchild, first in the general classification of the Pro Ocean Tour circuit (dedicated to the Ocean Fifty class) last summer aboard the Leyton, can aim high for this race, along with Frenchman Aymeric Chappellier. In Class40, the Franco-Spanish duo Antoine Carpentier and Pablo Santurde del Arco finished third in the Normandy Channel Race (NCR) at the start of June, and can have a good race.

One race, three distinct paths for a first

For this 2021 edition, in addition to the Channel and crossing the Bay of Biscay, the boats will not all take the same path. With 4,600 nautical miles to go, the slower class (Class40) will inherit the shortest route and will have to go through Cape Verde, without going through the Doldrums (zone of intertropical convergence) nor the equator, while the Imoca and Multi50 (Ocean Fifty category) will sail alongside the Brazilian archipelago Fernando de Noronha (5,800 nautical miles to cover). The fastest (Ultimate) will have to travel 7,500 miles and descend to Ascension Island between Africa and South America.

Martinique, historic final destination

In a constrained health context that differs depending on the country, for the first time since the creation of the event, the finish will be in French territory. The drop-off point will be on the Martinique side, in the bay of Fort-de-France.

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.

The Courtois sisters, winners of the “Cap pour elle” operation

Long-distance triathlon enthusiasts, Julia and Jeanne Courtois are twins and will set off for the first time in such a race. If they were immersed in the world of sailing from a young age, they gradually moved away from the environment to devote themselves to their studies, Jeanne being an engineer and Julia a pharmacist.

The two sisters are above all the winners of the “Cap pour elle” operation launched on March 8 on the occasion of International Women’s Rights Day. The aim of this initiative was to finance a project led by a woman to cross the Atlantic (grant of 40,000 €). The twins, with their atypical profile and their sailing skills, won the jackpot.

Clément Giraud with his Good Samaritan

The transatlantic races are also great stories. The skipper Clément Giraud was unable to participate in the 2019 edition because his Imoca monohull had caught fire six days before the start, the fault of a defective lithium battery. TOverwhelmed by this incident and the situation of the skipper, Erik Nigon, who already has 10 transats to his list, offered to lend him his 60-footer for the Vendée Globe the following year. Today, Erik and Clément are partners on the Transat Jacques Vabre, aboard La Compagnie du Lit / Jiliti.

At the same time, Cément Giraud’s boat was resuscitated by Louis Duc and Marie Tabarly, who will be on board the ship at the start of the race.


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