Spi Ouest France, the bay of Quiberon in turmoil
Like every Easter weekend, the Bay of Quiberon is the playground for hundreds of crews who have come to fight it out. For this 45th edition, 439 crews and 2,200 sailors are on the ground for these 3 days of racing, which start this Friday, April 7, 2023 at 11:00 am. Throughout this long weekend, successive starts will be given for the 21 series engaged, where we find amateurs and professionals.
Viva Italia on the Atlantic Challenge 2023
The start of the Atlantic Challenge, a return transatlantic race to allow Class40s to return to France after the 2022 Route du Rhum, was given on Saturday, April 1. The 12 crews involved in this second edition are heading to Horta, the only stopover before La Rochelle. After nearly a week of racing, the Class40s will have to make a brilliant double change of tack, and in good time, to head east. The two Italian crews led by Ambrogio Beccaria, Allagrande Pirelli, and Alberto Bona have been leading the fleet since the passage of Pointe des Châteaux in Guadeloupe. Axel Tréhin on Project Ressue Ocean completes the trio in third place. Ian Lipinski on Crédit Mutuel, author of a good start, is in 5th position, while Erwan Le Draoulec, new skipper of Everial, is in 7th position.
Sail GP, 12 new dates for season 4
Sail GP has unveiled its upcoming schedule for Season 4, 2023-2024, which will include 12 events spread over 13 months. The season will begin June 16-17 in Chicago and culminate in a spectacular grand finale in the San Francisco Bay Area on July 13-14, 2024. This season will focus on the United States with four events there: Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Leg 2, and a return to New York, Leg 11, one of the biggest events of the season, with a relocated race area off Governors Island for better racing conditions. France will host the 3rd leg in Saint-Tropez in September 2023, Italy the 4th, followed by Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
Victory of Team Malizia on the 3rd stage of The Ocean Race
Team Malizia won the 3rd and longest leg of the crewed round the world race with stopovers. After rounding Cape Horn in first place, and a fierce battle with Kevin Escoffier's Holcim-PRB, Boris Hermann won on April 2, 2023 at 05:20 and 28 seconds UTC. The German team signs its first stage victory after 35 days of racing and 14,714 miles covered. And yet nothing was won for Team Malizia, which discovered a few days after the start that its mast was damaged. During the two days of repairs, Team Holcim PRB took the lead of the fleet and had a lead of nearly 600 miles. Throughout the final ascent to Itajai, the two crews sailed within sight of each other, with Holcim PRB crossing the line a little over 5 hours after Team Malizia. The crew led by Kevin Escoffier is still leading the overall classification, followed by Team Malizia and 11th Hour Racing Team.
Heading to Southampton for the start of the Ocean Globe Race 2023
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Whitbread Race, the race returns to its British origins with a start from Southampton. Organizer Don McIntyre had wanted to do the same with the Golden Globe Race, whose anniversary race he organized in 2018, but without support from British ports, it was finally Les Sables-d'Olonne, France, that hosted the GGR.
15 yachts, including six former Whitbread competitors and one winner, have confirmed their participation in the OGR, which will start on September 10, 2023.
Positive results for the Route du Rhum 2022
The organization of the Route du Rhum has published the main figures of this record edition, a success on land and at sea. There were 138 sailors at the start and 103 at the finish, with 6 big winners, one in each category. A new record was set: 6 days 19 hours 47 minutes and 25 seconds by Charles Caudrelier on the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild. On land too, it was a great achievement, as the race was followed by nearly 2 million television viewers at the start on November 9. The website recorded 5 million unique visitors to the race website and 1.5 million visitors during the 13 days the village was open in Saint-Malo.
The Ultims at the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre
The Ultims will be present on the starting line of the double-handed transatlantic race on October 29, 2023. They were supposed to be only three classes to participate in the race, the Class40s, the Ocean Fifty and the IMOCAs, but at the request of the president of the Ultim Class and with a notice of race reserving the possibility of inviting an additional class, the giant trimarans will be present. The courses will be different for each class to allow a grouped arrival in the Caribbean, around mid-November.
