Beyou and Lagravière on course for historic victory on Charal in the Transat Café L'OR
by Ed Gorman / IMOCA Globe Series 6 Nov 2025 02:54 PST
6 November 2025
Jérémie Beyou and Morgan Lagravière during the Transat Café L'OR © Charal
With just over 500 miles to go, the Transat Café L'OR has turned into a masterclass by Jérémie Beyou and Morgan Lagravière on Charal. Still ripping along in the Trade Winds towards Fort-de-France, Beyou, 49, a habitual podium finisher in the IMOCA Class, is on course for his first big race win since the 2020 Vendée Arctique.
For Lagravière, meanwhile, winning this 17th edition of the Transat Café L'OR will give him three consecutive victories in this classic, having won it in both 2021 and 2023 with Thomas Ruyant.
This morning, approaching the end of their 11th day at sea, Beyou and Lagravière had stretched their lead over second-placed Sam Goodchild and Loïs Berrehar on MACIF Santé Prévoyance to 114 miles. Third place is still occupied by Francesca Clapcich and Will Harris on 11th Hour Racing. They have been vying for second with MACIF Santé Prévoyance and are only six miles behind her.
Then it's Allagrande MAPEI (+151.5) skippered by Ambrogio Beccaria and Thomas Ruyant. And then, in fifth place, it's Justine Mettraux - announced yesterday as the World Sailor of the Year in the Female category at the World Sailing Awards at Dun Laoghaire in Ireland. She is sailing with Xavier Macaire on Teamwork-Team SNEF, and they are another 155 miles back.
On MACIF Santé Prévoyance, this race started strongly with Goodchild and Berrehar leading for the first few days until a broken hook at the top of their mast forced them to stop the boat and make repairs. Since then they have fought back to second, but they have not been able to match Charal's pace in the Trades.
Berrehar described a wild ride in an interview for the Class from on board. "It's bumpy," he said. "We are going pretty fast and the sea state is not that flat. The boat is just jumping, wave-by-wave, so it's not very stable. I mean just to live on board is a mission sometimes, but we are holding on and we are enjoying the speed.
"We are trying to catch up with Charal which is very fast," he added. "But it's OK. The mood is good and the Trade Winds are strong and we are managing to push the boat as fast as we can. We are now 630 miles from Martinique, so we are starting to smell the rum!"
Berrehar and Goodchild are sailing a fast all-rounder of a boat that won the last Vendée Globe when skippered by Charlie Dalin - the recipient of the World Sailor of the Year Award in the male category - but, in Charal in the hands of Beyou and Lagravière, they have met their match.
"Charal is pretty impressive," continued Berrehar, 32, who plans to race his own new boat in the next Vendée Globe. "They have, for sure, a different set of sails than us, but obviously a different philosophy of boat, of hull shape - of everything. But the sail set-up is a little bit different and it seems like it's working pretty well."
Behind MACIF Santé Prévoyance, 11th Hour Racing has also been giving Berrehar and Goodchild a run for their money. Having raced on board the former Malizia-Seaexplorer in this year's Ocean Race Europe, Berrehar has been impressed by its Trade Wind speed in the hands of Clapcich and Harris.
"We didn't have conditions like this to really see the boat during The Ocean Race Europe," he said, "and now, in the Trade Winds - quite strong Trade Winds - I'm pretty impressed with its performance." In terms of staying ahead of 11th Hour Racing, Berrehar said it's all about "tactical placement" on the racecourse to maintain their position during the run to the finish.
Three places behind MACIF Santé Prévoyance, Mettraux and Macaire on Teamwork-Team SNEF are being pushed hard by Louis Burton and Clément Commagnac in sixth position on Bureau Vallée, now just six miles behind them.
Mettraux says she and Macaire have been struggling to match the pace of the boats in front of them. "It's not easy and what we know is, even if we push hard, we do not manage to do the speed that the top-four boats are doing," said Mettraux whose World Sailor of Year award recognises her 8th place in the last Vendée Globe as first female finisher, plus an action-packed year, having taken part in every IMOCA race of the season. "So we're just trying to hang in there the best we can and still try to contend with the guys at the back," she added.
Mettraux has enjoyed sailing with Macaire, an experienced ocean racer with a track record in Minis, Figaros, Class 40s and Ocean Fifties. "Everything's working well," she said. "We are trying to push the boat hard and we discuss settings, boat trim and our routines and strategy. So far, so good. It's been nice and we try to make sure the other gets rest when we can."
In the five-strong daggerboard division, Nico d'Estais and Simon Koster on Café Joyeux are still the top boat, as they have been for much of the race, and are lying in 11th position overall. They are 165 miles ahead of the next daggerboard IMOCA - Fives Group-Lantana Environnement skippered by Louis Duc and Masa Suzuki - who are 13th.
Meanwhile, Yoann Richomme and Corentin Horeau, who had to go back to Le Havre for repairs and re-start after hitting a navigation buoy in the first hours of the race, have climbed to 12th position on Paprec Arkéa. This morning they were 1,117 miles behind Charal at a position 445 miles northwest of the Cape Verde islands.
Track the fleet: www.imoca.org/en/transat-cafe-l-or