October 27, 2019
Coffee race started
This afternoon in Le Havre (France), the 14th Transat Jacques Vabre, which is often called the Coffee Race, was launched. Participants will have to cover 4350 nautical miles to Salvador, the capital of the Brazilian state of Bahia. Double-handed race, that is, on each boat – two people.
Three classes of ships set off: class 40 (27 boats), Multi50 (3) and IMOCA60 (29). As we have already said, this time special attention is focused on the third, the most massive of them. Among 29 IMOCA60 boats, there are 16 equipped with hydrofoils. At the same time, five of them were launched recently, all of them are superhigh-speed and are said to be called upon to revolutionize the class.
Briton Alex Thomson, the skipper of one of these yachts and perhaps the most hyped of all, Hugo Boss (Thomson went to race with compatriot Neil MacDonald, who was a participant in the Volvo Ocean Race 7 times around the world), said a couple of weeks before the start that This year, IMOCA60 leaders can go the distance to Salvador in 10 days (the current record for the class is 13 days).
But, most likely, this achievement will stand: to develop maximum speed will prevent the giant zone of low pressure with an epicenter in the Azores. According to new forecasts, to win will need to go 4350 miles in 14 – 15 days.
The official website of the race –
https://www.transatjacquesvabre.org
186 October 27, 2019 # 9620
Chief Editor
coffeeracestarted
What do you think?