A day dedicated to sharing
by Défi Azimut 2026 15 Sep 10:42 PDT
The IMOCA fleet gathers at Lorient La Base © Défi AZIMUT / Manon Le Guen
The 17 IMOCAs due to set sail on a series of speed Runs tomorrow were dockside at Lorient La Base in Brittany this morning. The local schoolchildren made the most of the opportunity to chat with the many skippers on the pontoons before the fleet set a course for nearby Concarneau to pay tribute to the late Charlie Dalin.
Among the 17 participants going all out for victory in tomorrow afternoon's Runs in the waters between the island of Groix and mainland Brittany, there will be two relative outsiders, but everyone is sure to put on a show. The IMOCAs will cast off from the pontoons of Lorient La Base at 1:30 pm local time, with the first Runs due to kick off at 2:30 pm. The results will be published by late afternoon, early evening.
Thanks to the livestream broadcast online on YouTube and France TV Sport, audiences will be able to watch all the action as it happens and it will be worth keeping a particular eye on the new boats, like the two 2026 Verdier designs, DMG Mori Global One and Groupe Dubreuil-Air Caraïbes, as well as Charal, which will be competing this year with a new hull to complement her tried-and-tested appendages. The perfect opportunity for these competitors to test their mettle against the season's best placed IMOCAs, with Macif Santé Prévoyance currently leading the way, ahead of United by the Ocean, winner of The Ocean Race Atlantic, the finish of which was decided in Lorient just last Thursday.
Her skipper, Paul Meilhat, will also be in Concarneau this evening to pay a final tribute to Charlie Dalin, who he often competed against on the both the Figaro and IMOCA circuit, but also paired up with throughout the 2021 racing season on Apivia. In fact, the duo won the Défi Azimut together that same year. Paul was keen to spend the evening on the boat among friends as he explained over the phone somewhere between Lorient and Concarneau: "Naturally, I wanted to be there to remember Charlie, but I didn't want to get overly emotional. As a result, I invited lots of people, with as many Cape Horners as possible to pay a joyful tribute to Charlie. I set out with Benjamin Ferré and Éric Loizeau and we're picking up Jacques Caraës, Kojiro Shiraishi, as well as Anne Liardet and the Cotten family in Concarneau. I'll be in amazing company and I know it's going to be a night to remember."