Nearly 50 duets involved!
While the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre will only take place in 7 months (November 2019), 46 competitors have already confirmed their registration. At the beginning of the year, the organisation estimated that 55 boats - around thirty IMOCA and more than 20 Class40 - were present in the Paul Vatine basin. A more or less respected estimate since there are still 3 months to register (closing July 12).
As a reminder, this 14th edition of the Coffee Route between Le Havre and Salvador de Bahia will be run without the Ultimates. Without Brest Océans, which was to be run at the same time, the Ultim 32/23 class had asked to race on the Jacques Vabre. Application refused for organizational reasons ( to be found here ).
Three classes will line up on the start line of the race: Class40, IMOCA and Multi50 (only one of which has announced its participation, Solidaires En Peloton ARSEP (Thibaut Vauchel Camus and Fred Duthil). On board, experienced skippers will meet young newcomers.
20 Class40
20 40-foot monohulls will be competing in this 14th edition, compared to 15 in the 2017 edition. While Maxime Sorel (V&B), the last winner of the event, has now joined the ranks of the IMOCA, his runner-up, Aymeric Chappellier is clearly aiming for victory in 2019.
This year, newcomers will appear such as American Sam Fitzgerald or French-English Luke Berry. Others, on the contrary, will complete their list of participation successes, such as Catherine Pourre, whose 4th participation will be or Louis Duc (Carac) who, if he manages to find a budget, will register his 5th participation.
Kito de Pavant will be running for his 10th participation! And for this last Transat Jacques Vabre - which he has raced on all the horses (IMOCA, ORMA and Multi 50) for the last 20 years - he wants victory! He will be accompanied by a young Figaro player, as he told us before his departure on the Atlantic Challenge.
IMOCAs in force
30 60-foot monohulls will participate in the Transat Jacques Vabre (compared to 13 in 2017), including 6 new ones. The focus will be on Charal, (Jérémie Beyou and Christopher Pratt), now more reliable since its launch in August 2018. But also on Alex Thomson's brand new Hugo Boss.
Interesting duets
While the duets have started to filter, some are getting more attention than others. Starting with Yannick Bestaven and Roland Jourdain, two two double winners of the Transat Jacques Vabre, Nicolas Troussel and Jean Le Cam or Samantha Davies and Paul Meilhat.
It will also be the first time for Sébastien Simon accompanied by his mentor Vincent Riou or Clarisse Crémer - who will race under the colours of Banque Populaire accompanied by Armel le Cléac'h. Women will be in the spotlight, particularly with the duo Alexia Barrier and Joan Mulloy.
The list of participants
1 Aïna Enfance et Avenir Aymeric Chappellier
2 Banque de Leman Simon Koster and Valentin Gautier
3 Beijaflore William Mathelin-Moreau and Marc Guillemot
4 Need for a new name Louis Duc and Aurélien Ducroz
5 Chocolates Paries - Coriolis Composites Jean-Baptiste Daramy and Alexandre Hamlyn
6 Colombre XL Charles-Louis Mourruau
7 CRE'ACTUAL Bertrand de Broc and Vincent Leblay
8 Crédit Mutuel Ian Lipinski
9 Eärendil Catherine Pourre and Pietro Luciani
10 Espoir Mer Entreprendre Thibault Hector and Christophe Bachmann
11 First Light Sam Fitzgerald
12 Iskareen Soenke Bruhns and Arnt Bruhns
13 Kerhis Olivier Taillard and Paul Gallet
14 Lamotte - Luke Berry Creation Module
15 Leyton Arthur the Valiant
16 Made In Midi Kito de Pavant
17 SOS Méditerranée Pascal Fravalo and Guillaume Goumy
18 Volvo Jonas Gerckens and Damien Cloarec
1 Solidaires En Peloton ARSEP Thibaut Vauchel Camus and Fred Duthil
1 Waiting Kojiro Shiraishi
2 Waiting Miranda Merron
3 4myplanet Alexia Barrier and Joan Mulloy
4 Apivia Charlie Dalin
5 Ariel 2 Ari Huusela
6 Arkea Paprec Sébastien Simon and Vincent Rou
7 Banque Populaire Clarisse Crémer and Armel le Cléac'h
8 Charal Jérémie Beyou and Christopher Pratt
9 CORUM L'Epargne Nicolas Troussel and Jean Le Cam
10 Groupe Apicil Damien Seguin
11 Setin Manu Cousin and Gildas Morvan Group
12 Hugo Boss Alex Thomson
13 Heart Initiatives Samantha Davies and Paul Meilhat
14 The Alan Roura and Sébastien Audigane Factory
15 La Mie Câline Artipôle Arnaud Boissières
16 MACSF Isabelle Joschke and Morgan Lagravière
17 Maître CoQ Yannick Bestaven and Roland Jourdain
18 Malizia 2 - Yacht Club de Monaco Boris Hermann and Pierre Casiraghi
19 Newrest - Art and Window Fabrice Amédéo and Eric Péron
21 Prysmian Group Giancarlo Pedote
22 Pure Roman Attanasio
23 Time for Oceans Stéphane Le Diraison
24 V and B Maxime Sorel
Extract from the list of competitors (some competitors have asked that their registration remain confidential)
