Transat Café L'or Class 40 Preview: A class with strength in depth

Class 40 Pierreval-Fondation Good Planet, skippers Vincent Riou and Yann Doffin are photographed before the Transat Café L'or © Gauthier Lebec

Once again the Class40s will have the most boats on starting line of the TRANSAT CAFÉ L'OR Le Havre Normandie next Sunday, with 42 duos competing.

Two years ago their epic start was one of the most memorable images of the last edition, battling off the start line in big winds and big seas lit by beautiful sunshine. The Class40s set off at full speed and the race remained close right to the finish line off Fort-de-France. The top six crossed the Martinique finish line within 11 hours of each other.

Racing Allagrande Pirelli, Ambrogio Beccaria became the first Italian skipper to win since 2007, the first big year on the Coffee Route for Class40, when Giovanni Soldini and Pietro D'Ali won into Salvado de Bahia, Brazil. Beccaria's compatriot Alberto Bona, racing with Spain's Pablo Santurde took third. In 2023 there were no outstanding favourites and that is the case again on this 17th edition. Beccaria now has an IMOCA project and races with two times back-to-back winner Thomas Ruyant.

"It's still difficult to say who will win."

There are 42 boats entered. Class40 continues to attract talented, committed amateurs whose programmes are part time, and well-funded professionals, but together the class means as many people as possible can take on the most prestigious Transatlantic races at achievable budgets. In Le Havre right now there are a lot of good teams with good boats.

Vincent Riou winner of the Vendée Globe (2004-2005), is racing in the class on the Pogo S4 Pierreval-Fondation GoodPlanet and describes it as "a great field." He sails with a successful businessman Pierre Doffin, an amateur who is looking to test himself on the Atlantic. Riou is well up to speed with the competition:

"It's truly a strong class with a promising future with very high-level skippers. And it's still difficult to say who will win."Says Riou.

This is due in part to the quality and experience of the strongest duos, many of whom have come in recent years from the Figaro, but also to the evolution of the scow bowed monohulls.

"The boats are both demanding and hard to handle," 2000 and 2008 Vendée Globe Michel Desjoyeaux recently told us. "You mustn't forget that we're going as fast as when I was at the helm of PRB in 2000! On these boats, you can't be bored!"

"In this class, everyone can have their moment of glory," Riou continues. "The Lifts have a greater advantage when reaching, while the Pogo S4s and Musas have a greater advantage when downwind. The boats are very distinctive, which makes the race very open."

Douguet-Tréhin, a slight advantage?

It's a new Lift V3, launched this year, that many are tipping as the narrow favourite for the TRANSAT CAFÉ L'OR Le Havre Normandie Class40. Corentin Douguet's boat (Faits un don à SNSM) sees the Frenc ace return to the class as skipper three years after winning the championship in 2022. This year, aboard the boat designed by Marc Lombard, he's teamed up with Axel Tréhin.

And the duo is impressive: winners of the CIC Normandy Channel Race - arguably the toughest tes each year - and then the Rolex Fastnet Race. "It's the boat that dominated the season, even though we knew they would be fierce competitors," confides Achille Nebout (Amarris). "They put on a masterclass in every race they entered," adds Guillaume Pirouelle (Seafrigo - Sogestran).

"Are we the favourites? I'm not going to say we are not, that's why we are here." smiles Corentin Douguet. "But we're not the only ones; there are about ten boats that could be in contention for the podium."

Outsiders galore

Among them is Fabien Delahaye (Legallais), 2013 winner with Sébastien Rogues who. He sails with past 470 Olympian Pierre Leboucher on a Lift V2 which was launched in 2023). They won Les Sables Horta. They only just finished ahead of another pair of podium contenders, Spain's Pep Costa and Pablo Santurde del Arco (VSF). In his first season in the VSF colors, Catlan Pep has done well (2nd in the Rolex Fastnet Race), and Santander's Santurde is the perfect co-skipper who has always finished on the podium on this race, winning with Nicolas Carpentier in 2021, third in 2017 with Phil Sharp, second in 2013 with Alex Pella and third last edition with Alberto Bona.

Achille Nebout and Gildas Mahé (Amarris) need watching too as they were second two years ago and are winners of the Transat Québec Saint-Malo and the Med Max. They are looking forwards to this race after being sidelines this season because of a dismasting.

"They're working at full speed and know each other very well," adds Corentin Douguet. Normandy's favourites are Guillaume Pirouelle and Cédric Château (Seafrigo-Sogestran) who many tip for the podium, especially after them winning the most recent circuit event in Saint-Malo, Quentin Le Nabour and Thierry Chabagny (Bleu Blanc Planète Location) and Italians Lucas Rosetti and Matteo Sericano (Maccaferri Futura) could also shine at the front.

Heading into their first Transatlantic together are Ireland's Pam Lee and her American co-skipper Jay Thompson on Lee's Pogo S4 #EmpowHer. After learning the course last edition as part of the Engie Cap Pour Elles initiative, Lee has hopes of finishing around tenth or maybe a little better...... "If we are tenth or better I will be delighted and if we are 15thor worse it will be disappointing." She noted.

Sasha Lanièce (Alderan) who sails with Germany's Sanni Beucke competing in her first major race in Class40, is full of praise for the field. "I think they're all very strong," she says. "There's really a very good level... And the front of the race will be hard to win!"

IMOCA

After retiring from the 2023-4 Vendée Globe the Hungarian skipper Szabolcs Weöres is back.

After the intense disappointment of having to retire from the last Vendée Globe, limping into Cape Town with a standing rigging problem which threatened his mast, Hungarian skipper Szabolcs Weöres is back on the start line for his second Transat Café Lor, the double handed race really representing the start of his 2028 campaign. He is racing with Swiss co-skipper 29 year old sports scientist Berenice Charrez whose first major IMOCA race this is.

Find out more at www.transatcafelor.org