17th Transat Café L'or Start: Full speed into an uncertain night
by Transat Café L'OR 27 Oct 04:18 AEDT
26 October 2025
After tens of thousands of well-wishers and spectators gathered around Le Havre's Vauban docks to send off the skippers in perfect sunshine, the three divisions which started the TRANSAT CAFÉ L'OR Normandie Le Havre this afternoon were then released into muscular wind conditions and leaden skies as they made a fast start to what should be an express exit from the English Channel.
The three classes which started this afternoon will have a tough first night at sea with winds gusting to 30-35 knots. Early indications are that many of the IMOCAs and Class40 will head towards the English coast in search of flatter water, an earlier chance to get to a favourable windshift which will offer a better angle to approach Ushant on the NW corner of France.
After three Ocean 50s capsized in succession last night - the 10 boat division started their race on Saturday - the leaders, Pierre Quiroga and Gaston Morvan (Wewise) this Sunday evening were 18 miles ahead at some 100 nautical miles north of La Coruña.
ULTIM:
Prudence was the order of the day for the starting ULTIMs. The four giant trimarans crossed the start line in 20 knots of NW'ly wind maintaining a slight safety margin, staying well back from the line. Anthony Marchand and Julien Villion (Actual ULTIM 4) made the best launch, followed by Sodebo ULTIM 3 and SVR-Lazartigue at the Normandy turning mark.
IMOCAs:
Strategies varied among the 18 IMOCAs, some were ultra conservative taking time to set their sail plan whilst some of the top seeds flew off the line fully foiling, their boats bucking in the squally breeze. Louis Burton is never shy of pushing a start line and has been penalised before for jumping the start of the 2020-2021 Vendée Globe but the Saint Malo skipper and Clément Commagnac (Bureau Vallée) were at full speed across the start line first. By the Normandy mark, Jérémie Beyou and Morgan Lagravière (Charal) had the lead ahead of Bureau Vallée and Allagrande Mapei.
Late flash: Technical stopover back in Le Havre for Paprec Arkéa
At 1508hrs UTC while in seventh place Yoann Richomme and Corentin Horeau collided with a buoy off Le Havre. The IMOCA Paprec Arkéa was traveling at over 16 knots, and the impact damaged the rigging and starboard outrigger of their boat. The duo are OK and is doing everything they can to secure their mast, before turning back for a technical pitstop in Le Havre, where their technical team is waiting to evaluate the damage and make repairs as quickly as possible. The Transat Café L'Or sailing instructions allow for stops of minimum four hours
CLASS 40:
The Class40s made a good start with the local heroes giving the home crowds plenty to cheer about/ A trio of all-Normandy based boats rounded the Normandy buoy led by Seafrigo-Sogestran (Guillaume Pirouelle and Cédric Chateau) in the lead, followed by Legallais (Fabien Delahaye and Pierre Leboucher) and Zeiss (Thimoté Polet and Pierrick Letouzé).
The Class 40s will make a mandatory stop into La Coruña on the North West corner of Spain to avoid the worst of a big Atlantic low approaching later this week. It will be aggregate times into Martinique which will decide the final results.
They said:
Francesca Clapcich ITA/USA IMOCA 11th Hour Racing: "It is going to be a sporty night. We are prepared and the team did such an incredible job. These first few hours are about preserving the boat and every manoeuvre is a challenge so we must not make mistakes. We won't be pushing super hard and we will stick to our strategy and not be influenced by other teams. We know our boat is really good for these conditions. We sail our boat, our mode, our strategy, our race. We will see in Martinique how that works."
Find out more at www.transatcafelor.org and track the fleet here.