Please select your home edition
Edition
RS Sailing 2021 - LEADERBOARD

The Transat Jacques Vabre 2021 - A tough challenge to end a great IMOCA season

by Ed Gorman / IMOCA Globe Series 20 Oct 2021 08:12 PDT 7 November 2021
Charal © Gauthier Lebec / Charal

The IMOCA Class has enjoyed a vintage and innovative year in 2021 and now it is time for the finale - one of the classics in the repertoire - the 15th edition of the two-handed Transat Jacques Vabre.

Despite the fact that several boats have changed hands since the Vendée Globe finish, and there are new launches ahead for several high profile skippers, this transatlantic race is going to be highly competitive.

Over the past few weeks the IMOCA bases in Brittany have been a hive of intense activity as crews have prepared for the longest two-handed race in the sport in what in many cases are now finely-optimised boats, with or without foils.

No less than 23 IMOCAs will take the start from Le Havre on November 7th, for this classic test when co-skippers will look to push hard 24 hours-a-day for up to 17 days on a 5,800-nautical mile course, finishing at Fort-de-France on Martinique in the Caribbean.

In addition to foiling front-runners like Charlie Dalin and Paul Meilhat on APIVIA, Thomas Ruyant and Morgan Lagravière on LinkedOut and Jérémie Beyou and Christopher Pratt on Charal, the fleet includes five mixed male-female crews. Among them are Simon Fisher and Justine Mettraux on 11th Hour Racing Team-Alaka'I, Isabelle Joschke and Fabien Delahaye on MACSF and Louis Duc and Marie Tabarly - making her debut in the IMOCA Class - on Kostum-Lantana Paysage.

This race also sees the return to competition of Vendée Globe winner Yannick Bestaven sailing with Jean-Marie Dauris on Maître CoQ IV which was forced to retire from the Rolex Fastnet Race after a collision at the start. Another closely-watched performer will be the new 11th Hour Racing Team IMOCA, Malama, co-skippered by Charlie Enright and Pascal Bidégorry, which had to retire from the Défi Azimut 48-Hours with steering failure.

Elsewhere in the fleet, many Vendée Globe veterans are returning to the fray, among them Louis Burton sailing with Davy Beaudart on the Sam Manuard-designed Bureau Vallée; Romain Attanasio and Sébastien Marsset on Fortinet-Best Western (formerly Malizia); Manuel Cousin and Alexia Barrier teaming up on Groupe SÉTIN-4myplanet, and the Italian skipper Giancarlo Pedote racing with Martin Le Pape on Prysmian Group.

The Transat Jacques Vabre is always a formidable challenge, not least because it leaves from the English Channel coast in November and then features a potentially rough crossing of the Bay of Biscay, before warmer climes and possibly easier trade wind sailing conditions are reached south and west of the Iberian coast.

This year's race is particularly interesting because it involves two transits of the squally and often windless Doldrum belt, as the IMOCA's head for the Brazilian archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, before turning back on a north-northwesterly heading for the finish.

Many will remember the last edition two years ago when Jeremie Beyou and Christopher Pratt on Charal were leading at the Doldrums, only to park up and be overtaken by race winner Dalin, then sailing with Yann Elies on APIVIA - this time Yann Elies is racing with Sébastien Simon on ARKEA PAPREC.

This year Dalin and Meilhat, with whom he has built a formidable partnership with consecutive victories in the Fastnet Race and the Défi Azimut 48 Hours, will start the Transat Jacques Vabre as favourites and they know they will be the ones to catch. "Yeah it would be great to defend our title, that would be a great success for sure," Dalin, 37, who hails originally from Le Havre from where the race sets sail. "I think we have ticked the boxes for it in our preparation and after that it is up to us to take the opportunity, if we get it."

Dalin points out that the Transat Jacques Vabre is a completely different beast to either the Fastnet or the Défi Azimut 48 Hours, so the formbook may not prove accurate. "There are definitely more obstacles than the Fastnet race or the 48 Hours - one of them is the Doldrums and the other is tiredness," he explained. "This race is longer and these boats take a toll on the sailors when you drive them at high pace. Sailing at 20 knots, for example, is very easy compared to 25 - it's not a linear progression. If you double your speed, you aren't doubling the discomfort, it's much more than that."

The APIVIA skipper has proved adept at keeping his boat in one piece while sailing competitively at the front of the fleet and, one suspects, the way he and Meilhat will approach the Transat Jacques Vabre will be no different. "We will be looking at more than two weeks at sea and a full crossing of the Atlantic, so it is a slightly different exercise to what we have done so far this year since the Vendée Globe," he said. "The way you race with such a long route is slightly different too - you've got more parameters to take into account and you have to push enough to be ahead but also preserve your boat to keep it one piece. You have to strike the right balance between pushing and preservation."

Among those looking to steal a march on Dalin and Meilhat are the ARKEA PAPREC duo of Simon and Elies who will be looking for a good result on a boat that has had some bad luck in its short racing career. Simon, who is hunting for a new title sponsor for his IMOCA campaign, says Apivia is currently on a slightly different level to everyone else. "But we have a chance,"he told the Class. "Our boat is very good and we don't have any problems now, so we think it can be a good race for us."

Simon says the start is the critical bit, as the fleet heads out of the Channel in the early stages of the winter. "The north Atlantic in winter is very difficult," he said. "We need to make sure that we don't break the boat at the start - we know IMOCAs are really fast and it is difficult to keep the boats safe - so I think the start will be the most important part of the race."

Simon also made the point that the leg from Fernando de Noronha up to the finish at Fort-de-France is new territory for him. "I don't know this part of the Atlantic because it will be the first time we will be sailing in this area. I think it could be dangerous because there are fisherman off the coast and there could be debris in the water coming out of the mouth of the Amazon off the Brazilian coast," he said.

For British skipper Sam Davies, sailing with Nicolas Lunven on Initiatives-Cœur, this Transat Jacques Vabre will be her last race in her 2012-vintage IMOCA as she prepares to move on to a new Manuard boat next year, also under the Initiatives-Coeur banner. The irrepressible Davies can't wait to get to the start village at Le Havre.

"I think it's going to be an amazing line-up and just being in the port of Le Havre is going to be pretty incredible," said Davies who is one of nine non-French sailors taking part in the race. "For a post-Vendée Globe year, which is normally a quiet one when there are not so many competitors, it's fantastic to see the line-up in the IMOCA Class and it's a pretty international fleet as well as being highly competitive."

Davies, 47, seems unfazed by taking on the north Atlantic in November and is also looking forward to her two appointments with the Doldrums. "I think the second Doldrums, in theory at least, shouldn't be so sticky because the course is taking us quite a long way west. I don't know if it might make it easier to get through the Doldrums on the way down as well - probably not," she said.

Davies says the Transat Jacques Vabre is long enough not to be entirely about out and out speed and tactical decisions and choosing the best route will also be critical to a successful outcome. "It has the potential to be a close race, but we must not forget it is nearly 6,000 miles long, so it's not just going to be down to pure boatspeed," she said. "And we are leaving Le Havre in the middle of winter and heading into the north Atlantic - but those are things I love as well - I am looking forward to all the things that will get thrown at us," she added.

Related Articles

Sam Goodchild in the Course des Caps
The final phase is full of potential pitfalls Sam Goodchild, the British skipper of MACIF Santé Prévoyance who has been dominating the IMOCA round Britain and Ireland race since the start of the third day, says the goal now is to focus on the complex finishing section. Posted on 4 Jul
Rolex Fastnet Race IRC One preview
Beyond the French legends there is plenty of international talent with podium potential With 17 editions of the Rolex Fastnet Race to his name, including five class victories along the way and an outright victory in 2015, could anyone bet against Géry Trentesaux doing it again? Posted on 4 Jul
2025 Transat Café L'OR is packed with surprises
73 boats sailed by 146 co-skippers will set sail on October 26th 73 boats sailed by 146 co-skippers will set sail on October 26th on the TRANSAT CAFÉ L'OR Le Havre Normandy. Posted on 4 Jul
Onboard reporters in the Course des Caps
Enjoying the challenge of bringing the race to life In the Course des Caps - Boulogne sur Mer - Banque Populaire du Nord, the Onboard Reporters, or OBRs, are back doing a wonderful job of bringing IMOCA racing to life with pictures, videos, interviews and reports from the boats. Posted on 3 Jul
Tom Dolan in the Course des Caps update
The IMOCA 60 Charal has "Switched to Full Throttle" Irish offshore sailor Tom Dolan is now four days into racing aboard the high-performance IMOCA 60 Charal, skippered by French sailing legend Jérémie Beyou, as part of the prestigious Course des Caps. Posted on 3 Jul
The Ocean Race Europe to showcase new race tracker
Developed with PredictWind to revolutionise race coverage The Ocean Race, often described as the toughest test of a team in sport and widely recognised as a leader in impactful ocean health initiatives, and PredictWind, a global leader in marine weather forecasting, are collaborating on a new race tracker. Posted on 3 Jul
Oliver Heer confirms 2028 Vendée Globe ambition
The Swiss skipper aims to return for the 2028 edition of the legendary solo race with a newer boat After completing the Vendée Globe 2024 on his first attempt, Oliver Heer, the Swiss-German skipper of Tut gut Sailing, has confirmed his intention to return for the 2028 edition of the legendary solo race. Posted on 3 Jul
Rolex Fastnet Race: Offshore classics set to race
IRC Zero has a rich seam of ocean-going history running through it IRC Zero has a rich seam of ocean-going history running through it. While French round the world race legend Jean-Luc Van Den Heede (aka VDH) isn't competing in the Rolex Fastnet Race, two of his former steeds will be on the IRC Zero start line. Posted on 2 Jul
Course des Caps Update: A promising start!
The eleven crews have begun their grand tour around the British Isles The Course des Caps - Boulogne-sur-Mer - Banque Populaire du Nord, which set sail from the shores of northern France, marks the first race of the 2025 season and kicks off the new edition of the IMOCA Globe Series Championship. Posted on 2 Jul
Team Malizia starts Course Des Caps
Challenging race around the British Isles Team Malizia set sail today from Boulogne-sur-Mer, kicking off the inaugural Course des Caps race in light winds and challenging conditions with a solid start. Posted on 29 Jun
Barton Marine Pipe GlandsArmstrong 728x90 - HA Foil Range - BOTTOMHyde Sails 2024 - One Design