IMOCA Ocean Masters World Championship – results after two year of rac

by Marion Cardon on 22 Apr 2015 The Barcelona World Race, concluding the two-year IMOCA Ocean Masters World Championship season, sees Jean Le Cam crowned as victor, having won the double-handed round the world with Bernard Stamm, and the Transat Jacques Vabre with Vincent Riou. With his Championship win in 2006, this is the second time that Jean Le Cam is World Champion.

From now on, the IMOCA Ocean Masters World Championship will be awarded every two years, at the end of each of the two pinnacle round the world races that punctuate it: the Barcelona World Race, and the Vendée Globe. As such, this current title rewards all the Championship races since the last Vendée Globe, namely the Rolex Fastnet Race and the Transat Jacques Vabre in 2013, the New York to Barcelona Race, the Route du Rhum and the Barcelona World Race in 2014. Thanks to his two victories in the Transat Jacques Vabre and the Barcelona World Race, Jean Le Cam adds a new line to his list of triumphs, while Bernard Stamm and Guillermo Altadill complete the podium. Thanks to their solid performances in the Transat Jacques Vabre and the Route du Rhum, Jérémie Beyou and Marc Guillemot secure fourth and fifth place respectively.

In total some 21 competitors representing eight nationalities are ranked, reflecting the increasingly international character of the IMOCA Class. Indeed, an ever more substantial contingent of Spanish sailors has emerged through the Barcelona World Race, and there is an ever increasing interest for the IMOCA Class in countries like Poland and Germany which are new to solo offshore racing.

This World Championship crowns a very international trio with Jean Le Cam, Bernard Stamm and Guillermo Altadill. But its champion is a sailor who has never hidden his deep-seated conviction that it is through the inner shrine of French racing that the IMOCA class will draw legitimacy. Given Jean Le Cam’s affection for the Barcelona World Race and the Spanish sailors’ ambition to carve out a place for themselves in the circuit, there could be no better champion to represent the Class.

Statement from Jean Kerhoas, President of the IMOCA Class:

“Congratulations to Jean Le Cam, winner of the IMOCA Ocean Masters World Championship 2013-2014. It is the consecration of a remarkable champion in the world of offshore racing, completing what is already a very rich track record earned over the course of an extraordinary career.

By securing two fabulous victories in the Transat Jacques Vabre and the Barcelona World Race, Jean quite logically rounds off this first edition of the IMOCA Ocean Masters World Championship on the highest step of the podium.

My warmest congratulations also to his two very European podium companions, Bernard Stamm and Guillermo Altadill, both incredible skippers who have sailed a very fine race.”

Statement from Sir Keith Mills, Chairman of OSM – Open Sports Management, organiser of the IMOCA Ocean Masters World Championship:

“I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Jean Le Cam on winning the IMOCA Ocean Masters World Championship 2013-14 and to Bernard Stamm and Guillermo Altadill on completing the impressive podium. Few sailors have been such consistent ambassadors of the IMOCA Class as these incredible skippers and nobody understands the technology of these complex IMOCA 60s more than Jean, making him not only an amazing sailor, but also a hugely valuable long-term member of the IMOCA Executive Committee.

I am proud today to celebrate the accomplishment of three international and legendary figures of our sport. Congratulations King Jean! Congratulations Bernard! Congratulations Guillermo! »

The competitions of the IMOCA Ocean Masters World Championship 2015-2016 :

2015:

• 16 August: The Rolex Fastnet Race, double-handed from the Isle of Wight, round the Fastnet Rock, and to Plymouth.
• 25 October: Transat Jacques Vabre, double-handed transatlantic race between Le Havre, France and Itajai, Brazil.
• 6 December: Transat B to B, single-handed transatlantic race back to Brittany, France.

2016:

• May-June: single-handed transatlatic race.
• 6 November: Vendée Globe, single-handed round the world race, non-stop and without any assistance, starting and finishing in Les Sables d'Olonne, France.