Transat Jacques Vabre 2011 – More than 30 entries expected

by Transat Jacques Vabre on 20 Jul 2011 Transat Jacques Vabre 2011 starts on 30th October from Le Havre, France. More than 30 duos will set off from Le Havre aboard both multihulls and monohulls across the Atlantic ocean bound for Costa Rica.

Raced every two years by duos – crews of two – across the Atlantic retracing a route traditionally taken by the coffee trade, the formula for the Transat Jacques Vabre has proven a durable and popular ever since the first edition of this renowned ocean race in 1993. With the continued support of its original partners, Kraft Foods and the City of Le Havre this Transat Jacques Vabre celebrates its 10th edition.

By July 11th 20 teams have already registered entries but it is known that there are more teams making ready to enter. This year sees the return of the Class 40 fleet – absent in 2009 – which will swell the race’s monohull fleet along with the 12 60 foot Imoca Open 60’s which are already registered.

Strength in depth in the Imoca
In the larger Imoca monohulls 14 teams are expected to compete on this classic passage, a cross section of the top names and up and coming stars of this highly competitive class, starting with the defending champion Marc Guillemot (Safran) who this time will race with Yann Eliès. Within this fleet there will be three new Imoca Open 60’s making their big race debut, the new Cheminées Poujoulat (Bernard Stamm/ Jean-François Cuzon) which was launched only this Spring in La Ciotat, the new Macif (François Gabart / Sébastien Col) who are scheduled to launch their new boat on August 9th and the new Spanish Imoca Open 60 of Javier ‘Bubi’ Sanso. As well as new boats there will be an exciting new face in the fleet, that of French World Cup winning downhill skier turned motor racer Luc Alphand. The winner of the 2006 Paris-Dakar Rally who has retired from motor racing sets sail on his first Transatlantic Race alongside Marc Thiercelin aboard DCNS. Alex Thomson will return to the Transat Jacques Vabre on Hugo Boss ready to put behind him the disappointment of missing out on last winter's Barcelona World Race, while Mike Golding in the colours of his new Spanish sponsor Gamesa races in his seventh consecutive Transat Jacques Vabre.

The Class 40’s return
Since 2007 the Transat Jacques Vabre has been open to the forty foot Class 40 monohulls. This dynamic class sees an international mix of professional and amateur sailors. In this class we should see a new reference time for a course which will be new to them, fifteen teams should compete. The duo Bestaven/Bouvet (Aquarelle.com) are presently the leaders of the Les Sables-Horta-Les Sables race to the Azores and back will start among the favourites, along with the entry of Stéphane Le Diraison (Bureau Veritas) and the Mediterranean pair Thierry Bouchard and Gilles Berenger (Comiris Pole Santé Elior).

In total the fleet should number more than 30 boats across the three classes, Imoca, Class 40 and Multi 50, to assemble in Le Havre from October 22, the historic birth place and host city of the race. The entry rises from the last, 2009, edition when 20 boats competed. Transat Jacques Vabre website