An eventful season ahead for Class40 fleet
by Class40 16 Jan 2018 03:12 PST
The Class 40 Aina Enfance & Avenir during the Transat Jacques Vabre 2017 © Christophe Breschi / Aina
Following on from the 2017 season which concluded with the closely-fought Transat Jacques Vabre, the 2018 season promises to be a busy one for the Class40 fleet. The programme includes solo, double-handed and crewed races... on both sides of the Atlantic!
Key points:
- Six races to count for the 2018 Class40 Championship
- New boats in build
- Races all over the world
2018 Championship
The class is proud of its Pro-Am mix and the highly eclectic aspirations of its sailors, and the diversity of the races which count towards this year's Championship aims to provide satisfaction to as many of our sailors as possible, as well as to crown a campaign which will have proven itself all-round at the end of the year after the Route du Rhum destination Guadeloupe. The six main events which will therefore count are the Grand Prix Guyader, the Atlantic Cup, the Normandy Channel Race, the Drheam Cup destination Cotentin, the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland race and the Route du Rhum*.
It would seem that the 2018 Championship is going to be hotly contested as the 40 places allocated to Class40s in the legendary solo transatlantic race have been filled, there are already numerous boats on the waiting list, and the race is still 10 months away! Given the keen interest, it is likely that the early season races will also be well-subscribed.
Four boats in build
The last new boat in 2017 was the third Tizh40, boat number 152, launched late summer, and skippered by Tom Laperche and Christophe Bachmann. This year, the number of Class40s is set to increase with four new boats currently in build: a Cape40 5G for South African Andrew Thomson, an optimised Lift40 for Yoann Richomme, and a Mach40.3 for Luke Berry. As for the second Mach in build, it's still confidential...
Class40s all over the world
Even if much of the fleet is based in Europe, busy with the Championship and the European Trophy**, 2018 is an Atlantic Cup year, as is the case in even years. This American race between Charleston, New York and Portland, exclusively open to Class40s, is the main event for the American Trophy*** and follows on from the Miami to Havana Race and the traditional winter races in the Caribbean.
There are also active Class40s in the Pacific region! A number of them are entered in the Melbourne-Osaka race. The second-hand market in 2017 proved to be as dynamic as in previous years (15 boats sold), and there are now 7 Class40s based on the other side of the world!
As of today, there are no boats in the Indian Ocean region, but the future Round the World race will provide the opportunity to go and sail there too!
*2018 Championship
- Grand Prix Guyader (France –crewed – coeff 1)
- The Atlantic Cup (USA – double-handed – coeff 2)
- Normandy Channel Race (France – double-handed - coeff 2)
- Drheam Cup destination Cotentin (France – solo - coeff 2)
- Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland (Great Britain – crewed - coeff 2)
- Route du Rhum (France – solo – coeff 4)
**European Trophy
- 1000 milles des Sables
- Grand Prix Guyader
- Armen race
- Normandy Channel Race
- Round Ireland Race
- Drheam Cup destination Cotentin
- Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race
*** American Trophy
- Grenada Sailing Week
- Miami to Havana
- RORC Caribbean 600
- Les Voiles de St Barth
- The Atlantic Cup
- Newport to Bermuda