The thirteenth edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre was presented on Wednesday evening at a press conference in Paris. The 39 crews taking part in this race, include thirteen in the IMOCA category of Vendée Globe boats. On 5th November, the thirteen double-handed IMOCA crews will set sail from Le Havre to head for Salvador da Bahia in Brazil. Thirteen crews will be attempting to follow in the footsteps of Vincent Riou and Sébastien Col, who won the last edition of this double-handed transatlantic race.

12 skippers from the last Vendée Globe

Out of the 26 IMOCA skippers lining up, 12 took part in the last Vendée Globe. They will be sharing their adventure with a co-skipper, some of which will be taking their first steps in the IMOCA class. We can see some mixed doubles, such as the crew formed by Tanguy de Lamotte and Samantha Davies and Isabelle Joschke, who will ne welcoming Pierre Brasseur aboard (the winner of the 2015 race in Class40). Louis Burton and Servane Escoffier will set sail aboard their foiler Bureau Vallée, the former Banque Populaire that won the 2016 Vendée Globe.

Some very experienced skippers can also be seen, including Jean-Pierre Dick and Yann Eliès aboard St Michel-Virbac, Paul Meilhat and Gwénolé Gahinet on SMA, Kito de Pavant and Yannick Bestaven on Bastide Otio, and indeed Fabrice Amedeo and the Italian, Giancarlo Pedote on Newrest – Brioche Pasquier, without forgetting Morgan Lagravière and Eric Péron on the former Safran.

On the Vendée Globe route

After setting sail from Le Havre, the fleet will make its way out of the English Channel, before leaving the tip of Brittany to port. They will then begin their dash down the North Atlantic, before crossing the Equator and heading towards the coast of Brazil, a distance of some 4350 miles on a route that closely resembles the first part of the Vendée Globe.

The 13 duos lining up for the Transat Jacques Vabre

- BUREAU VALLÉE 2 (Louis Burton & Servane Escoffier)

- GENERALI (Isabelle Joschke & Pierre Brasseur)

- DES VOILES ET VOUS ! (Morgan Lagravière & Eric Péron)

- INITIATIVES CŒUR (Tanguy De Lamotte & Samantha Davies)

- BASTIDE OTIO (Kito de Pavant & Yannick Bestaven)

- MALIZIA II (Boris Herrmann & Thomas Ruyant)

- LA FABRIQUE (Alan Roura & Frédéric Denis)

- FAMILLE MARY - ETAMINE DU LYS (Romain Attanasio & Aurélien Ducroz)

- LA MIE CÂLINE – ARTIPÔLE (Arnaud Boissières & Manuel Cousin)

- NEWREST - BRIOCHE PASQUIER (Fabrice Amedeo & Giancarlo Pedote)

- StMICHEL-VIRBAC (Jean-Pierre Dick & Yann Eliès)

- SMA (Paul Meilhat & Gwénolé Gahinet

- VIVO A BEIRA (Yohann Richomme & Pierre Lacaze)

www.vendeeglobe.org