There will be 13 IMOCA dinghies at the start of this Transat Jacques Vabre 2019. The oldest boat in the fleet is a 1998 Lombard design, 4 My Planet (former Mary Family - Etamine du Lys) led by Alexia Barrier and Joan Mulloy, and the newest - which is one of the big favourites in this category - is Banque Populaire X is a 2011 VPLP-Verdier plan. He is also the big winner of the Route du Rhum 2018 with Paul Meilhat on board.
"Banque Populaire X, (Editor's note: ex-SMA, winner of the 2018 Route du Rhum with Paul Meilhat ) it is a recent and accomplished boat. This is our hare, and we're gonna do a lot of work for accrocher?!" explains Damien Seguin, skipper of IMOCA Groupe Apicil .
He was recently taken in hand by the young Clarisse Crémer, the new face of the Banque Populaire stable, who will be accompanied by Armel le Cléac'h.
Whether some people like it or not, these IMOCA hydrofoil-less boats still have the potential to perform. They are versatile and have good cards to play upwind, where the latest generation of foilers are less so. And while these "newborns" are a real eye-catcher, let's not forget that they require a long period of reliability. We have also seen that some IMOCA daggerboard boats finished the final races of the 2019 season well ahead of these new "foilers".
Opposite Banque Populaire X, Apicil Group has all the capacity to compete. This 2008 Finot-Conq plan will be led by Damien Seguin and his co-skipper Yoann Richomme. Recently optimized, it can be formidable. The proof is in his beautiful 5th place on the Azimut Challenge or his 7th place on the Rolex Fastnet.
"We've revised our target upwards during the season. The boat works very well, it is reliable. I didn't break much and finished all the races." explains Damien Seguin . Before adding : "I'm clearly aiming for first place in drifting boats. We're also gonna try to fight some foilers. Even if it's a course that will give them an advantage, we're going to try to do well and push the boat to 100% of her potential. If we make the right choices in terms of weather and strategy, then we can get good results."
V&B Mayenne - a 2007 VPLP Verdier plan - led by Maxime Sorel, in duet with Guillaume Le Brec or Corum l'Epargne - which is none other than Jean Le Cam's IMOCA Finistère Mer et Vent, the 2007 Farr design - skippered by Nicolas Troussel and Jean Le Cam - have just enough to complete this podium of old generation IMOCA boats.
Maxime Sorel has just entered the IMOCA class after several seasons in Class40. His boat is not recent but his good results in the races of the year - Maxime finished in the Top 10 - are good omens.
The second duet is no longer to be presented. These two great sailors have racked up quite a few miles on their respective counters and will be formidable in this Transat Jacques Vabre.
"We're hoping for upwind sailing at the start of the race so we can play with the daggerboard boats and why not put a few foilers behind. We don't have a goal of success, but we want to make the best result. It still seems a little hard to get into the top five. But you never know." explains Nicolas .
Setin Group (Manuel Cousin and Gildas Morvan) and Pure (Romain Attanasio and Sébastien Marsset) also have their say and intend to put in a good performance, as Romain Attanasio explains, who is now sailing on an IMOCA that is more recent than the 2016 Vendée Globe.
"We're entering the Transat Jaques Vabre to perform. We're going to try to finish ahead of the IMOCA boats of the same generation as ours such as Groupe Apicil (Seguin/Richomme), Corum L'Epargne (Troussel/Le Cam) or Time For Oceans (Stéphane Le Diraison/François Guiffant). Banque Populaire (Clarisse Crémer/Armel Le Cléac'h) seems to be one notch above. But there are some foilers that can be taken..."
Editor's podium: Banque Populaire X - Groupe Apicil - Corum l'Epargne
What about vôtre?? Who do you see finishing on the podium of the no foilers?? Share your opinion by leaving us a comment.
