Thirty-three yachts have already signed up for Transat Classique, France’s only fully-crewed transatlantic race. This year’s race is attracting participants from both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean coasts of France. One leg of the two-stage race will be starting out from Douarnenez during the Breton fishing-port’s boat festival in July. All the yachts must cross the Barbados finishing line before the end of December 2012.
Setting a course for Cascais
Organized by the Atlantic Yacht Club, Transat Classique 2012 is a race for vessels coming from both the north and the south coasts of France. A special feature of the event is a preliminary leg to a rallying point in Cascais, Portugal. For those coming from the south of France, the starting gun will be fired on 25 October in Saint-Tropez. Once assembled, the flotilla of classic yachts will be standing by at the entrance to the Bay of Lisbon until they set out for the Caribbean on 2 December.
Part of the festival
What better than the Douarnenez Maritime Festival, after Brest Week, to give the crews the send off they deserve? Transat Classique 2012 will be the event of the festival. The beautiful yachts will be under the spotlight from 19 July until Sunday 22 July when an armada of traditional sailing vessels will sail out into the bay to bid the racers “fair winds” as they set a course for Cascais. Don’t miss the show!
After Saint-Tropez race week
Watch out for the vessels sailing up from the Mediterranean! The “Southerners” will have had plenty of time to get into race shape before leaving Saint-Tropez Bay on 25 October, in events such as Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez and Les Régates royales de Cannes. You can be sure they won’t be coming to Cascais just for the workout!
Some exceptional vessels
The first Transat Classique in 2008 brought together 24 crews. “We’ve already had 33 vessels pre-register for 2012,” explain Loïc Blanken and François Séruzier, organizers of the event. And some exceptional vessels they are too! Moonbeam IV, the legendary participant of many a prestigious regatta and once owned by Prince Rainier of Monaco in the 1950s, will be among the vessels on the starting line. This Fife design, winner of the King’s Cup in 1920, is 35 metres long overall and carries 600 m² of sail close-hauled and 1,000 on a reach. More than a boat, Moonbeam IV is a piece of yachting history. Will she get a chance to flash her transom to the other competitors? Not if Germania Novia can help it! A fine mixture of modernity and authenticity, this 54-metre yacht is a replica of a Max Oerst design from 1908. And then there’s the White Dolphin, a Beltrami design measuring a little over 20 metres long. After 40 years of racing she is still as fresh as the day she was launched, her pretty Italian curves a delight to behold. These and many others will be taking up the challenge, much to the satisfaction of the organizers: “the entry list just keeps getting longer”. And there’s still time for some last-minute surprises!
From the north coast
Of course the southern flotilla is putting forward some exceptional names but the northerners intend to put on a great show too. And maybe create an upset because they’ll be keeping a firm weather eye on victory. First up in this beautiful sailing pageant is the 14.8 metre Stiren, a Stephens design built by the Pichavant shipyard and winner of Transat Classique 2008. Her crew will be doing its utmost to come out on top once again. Another thoroughbred hoping to impress is Amazon. Designed by Sparkman and Stephens, this 22.25 metre beauty was the 2011 winner of the Atlantic Trophée. Many others are in with a chance, such as Persephone a 37-foot Dick Carter design which has a great potential in a handicap race. Owned by Yves Lambert and based in La Trinité-sur-Mer, the Persephone will have in her crew Pierre Follenfant, a top racing yachtsman who competed in the first ever Vendée Globe. Sailing will always be a synonym for adventure and Transat Classique is just that. Perhaps not as testing as some races, it is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful!
A touching story
Gentlemen of the sea love a good story and this one is about Sea Lion, a superb 21-metre yawl which will also be lining up for Transat Classique 2012. Her owner was looking for a family boat on the Internet but fate had other ideas. By chance, in Greece, he came across his mother’s old yacht which he had lost contact with many years before. Designed by Abeking Rasmussen in 1953, she was in a pitiful condition so he bought her. The family entrusted Sea Lion to Southampton Yacht Services and gave instructions that she should be returned to her former glory. One complete rebuild later and she’s straining at her moorings in anticipation of flying the Portuguese flag in Transat Classique 2012. Her crew are based in Cascais and ready to go.
Weather considering
Vessels are free to chose the route they wish. Some will follow a direct course and hope the winter depressions are not too demanding; others will head south to look for the trade winds; and of course some will chose a route between the two extremes. Whatever their decision, they will have to get across the Atlantic quickly if they want a place on the podium!
Entry
Owners and directors of classic yachts can sign their vessels up to this fully-crewed transatlantic race for gentlemen and adventurers of the high seas. Follow the coast to charming Cascais… brave the ocean to fetch Barbados. The first yachts are expected to arrive in the Caribbean around 18 June.
“A race like no other. The most beautiful and the most elegant way to cross an ocean,” Jean Jacques Ollu, Chairman of the Atlantic Yacht Club.