Raced every two years by duos – crews of two – across the Atlantic retracing a route traditionally taken by the coffee trade, the formula for the Transat Jacques Vabre has proven a durable and popular ever since the first edition of this renowned ocean race in 1993. With the continued support of its original partners, Kraft Foods and the City of Le Havre this Transat Jacques Vabre celebrates its 10th edition. On October 30th 2011 more than 30 duos will set off from Le Havre aboard both multihulls and monohulls across the Atlantic ocean bound again for Costa Rica. By July 11th 20 teams have already registered entries but it is known that there are more teams making ready to enter. This year sees the return of the Class 40 fleet – absent in 2009 – which will swell the race's monohull fleet along with the 12 60 foot IMOCA Open 60's which are already registered.
Strength in depth in the IMOCA In the larger IMOCA monohulls 14 teams are expected to compete on this classic passage, a cross section of the top names and up and coming stars of this highly competitive class, starting with the defending champion Marc Guillemot (Safran) who this time will race with Yann Eliès. Within this fleet there will be three new IMOCA Open 60's making their big race debut, the new Cheminées Poujoulat (Bernard Stamm/ Jean-François Cuzon) which was launched only this Spring in La Ciotat, the new Macif (François Gabart / Sébastien Col) who are scheduled to launch their new boat on August 9th and the new Spanish IMOCA Open 60 of Javier 'Bubi' Sanso. As well as new boats there will be an exciting new face in the fleet, that of French World Cup winning downhill skier turned motor racer Luc Alphand. The winner of the 2006 Paris-Dakar Rally who has retired from motor racing sets sail on his first Transatlantic Race alongside Marc Thiercelin aboard DCNS. Alex Thomson will return to the Transat Jacques Vabre on Hugo Boss ready to put behind him the disappointment of missing out on last winter's Barcelona World Race, while Mike Golding in the colours of his new Spanish sponsor Gamesa races in his seventh consecutive Transat Jacques Vabre.
The Class 40's return
Since 2007 the Transat Jacques Vabre has been open to the forty foot Class 40 monohulls. This dynamic class sees an international mix of professional and amateur sailors. In this class we should see a new reference time for a course which will be new to them, fifteen teams should compete. The duo Bestaven/Bouvet (Aquarelle.com) are presently the leaders of the Les Sables-Horta-Les Sables race to the Azores and back will start among the favourites, along with the entry of Stéphane Le Diraison (Bureau Veritas) and the Mediterranean pair Thierry Bouchard and Gilles Berenger (Comiris Pole Santé Elior).
In total the fleet should number more than 30 boats across the three classes, IMOCA, Class 40 and Multi 50, to assemble in Le Havre from October 22, the historic birth place and host city of the race. The entry rises from the last, 2009, edition when 20 boats competed.
The defending champions 2009
Imoca:
Safran, Marc Guillemot - Charles Caudrelier Benac
Finished on 24/11/2009 in 15 days, 19 hours, 22 minutes and 10 seconds
at 12.46 knots average
Multi 50:
Winner: Crepes Whaou! Franck Yves Escoffier - Erwan Leroux
Finished on 24/11/2009 in 15 days, 15 hours, 31 minutes and 50 seconds
at 13.41 knots average
Upcoming events 2011:
- September 22, 2011 at 11 am: Press conference attended by skippers in Paris
- Saturday, October 22: Official opening of the village in Le Havre
- Sunday, October 30th at 13h02: start of the 10th Transat Jacques Vabre
- From November 13: first arrivals in Puerto Limon
The organization
The Transat Jacques Vabre transatlantic race for duos takes place every two years and is driven by the Transat Jacques Vabre Association which brings together representatives of Kraft Foods and the City of Le Havre, historical partners of the event. This association was created in April 2011 aims to define the overall strategy, coordinate, manage and promote the event to ensure its sustainability and the principle of sustainable development. Pen Duick, operational partner of the association, is in charge of organizing the race.
The spirit: "Take the sea, the land act"
Alongside the sporting challenge and human sporting endeavour the Transat Jacques Vabre is also an eco-friendly event that has taken effective measures since 2007 to reduce and offset its carbon footprint. The reduction of CO2 emissions was a major objective for all associated with the race in following a comprehensive sustainable development programme which was established by the organization. Definite actions have been carried out on transport, energy, water, waste management (384 kg of coffee have been recycled!), The use of recycled or recyclable materials, CO2 emissions have also been offset (2200 tonnes of offset and a drop of 65% in emissions between 2009 vs 2007) through reforestation operations in tropical forests. Thus, the Transat Jacques Vabre has obtained sponsorship from the Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and the Sea for 2011, this action in favor of environmental progress continues on the same lines and with the same level of passion and belief.
