IMOCAS HIT THE ROAD
Finishing into Salvador de Bahia, Brazil (at almost one year to the day before the next Vendée Globe), the 4,350-nautical-mile 2019 Transat Jacques Vabre is an important litmus test of the strength and depth of the IMOCA 60 fleet.
It could be argued that the IMOCA fleet – which will start the Vendée from Les Sables d’Olonne on Sunday 8 November 2020 – has never been stronger. Some might say the epic 30-strong, 2008-9 Vendée had a higher level, with 19 new-build boats on the line – but the 2020 race is oversubscribed, with 37 contenders hoping for a place.
Correspondingly, this 15th edition of the Transat Jacques Vabres (TJV), the two-handed late-autumn classic that follows the ‘coffee route’ from France to Brazil, saw a record fleet of 29 IMOCAs.
Most IMOCA observers had their money on Charal, sailed by three-time La Solitaire winner Jérémie Beyou with co-skipper Chris Pratt, who has an English mother. Launched summer 2018, the VPLP-designed Charal suffered its teething problems on last year’s Route du Rhum solo race, having to withdraw, restart and, finally, abandon with electrical and mechanical problems. But after a subsequent year of optimisation and testing, Charal won both the IMOCA fleet in the Rolex Fastnet Race and the 500nm Defi Azimut warm-up race. Most of the top Vendée
