Please select your home edition
Edition
Leaderboard new launch 2023 Spring

A very busy 2018 season ahead for the IMOCAs

by IMOCA 13 Jan 2018 11:00 GMT
Looking ahead to 2018, a very busy season for the IMOCAs © IMOCA

The skippers in the IMOCA class will be seeing a lot of different places in 2018, as we can see if we look at all the different events on the calendar and in particular the fine programme scheduled in the Mediterranean.

The pinnacle event in 2018 will be the Route du Rhum Destination Guadeloupe, which starts from St. Malo on 4th November. With ten months to go to the big day, this headline event, which will be celebrating its fortieth birthday, is already attracting a lot of interest.

With the cargo ship Kingfisher arriving in Lorient with seven of the thirteen IMOCAs, which took part in the 2017 Transat Jacques Vabre, all of the competitors are now back in their respective home ports. The boats are now entering the yard to prepare for the 2018 season, which looks like being very busy, which is something that can only delight the skippers.

The season to open in Douarnenez

It will be in early May in Douarnenez in Brittany that the IMOCAs will begin this new race season, when they take part in the Guyader Grand Prix. Just two days after this event ends, those skippers who so wish can line up on 9th May for the start of a solo race between Douarnenez and Cascais (Portugal), which will be a qualifier for the Route du Rhum. This will be a good opportunity to get hold of the precious ticket early in the season. This race course will also be a literary voyage in partnership with French publisher, Gallimard. An author will be paired up with each of the skippers taking part, which should mean that there will be some fantastic tales about this maritime adventure.

A rich programme in the Mediterranean

In the first week of June, the IMOCA skippers will be back together again for another long-awaited event, this time in Monaco, details of which are due to be presented later this month. The idea is to come up with a genuine Mediterranean race programme with the 60-foot monohulls lining up after that in the Giraglia Rolex Cup between St. Tropez and Genoa, via the Giraglia Rock. In between, there will be stand-by periods scheduled in Toulon or La Ciotat and then in Cannes. The locals down there in the Mediterranean will therefore have an opportunity to meet the sailors and admire their boats on their home ground.

Back in the Atlantic and the English Channel

The next events will take place further north. The start will be organised on 23rd July of the Dhream Cup between La Trinité-sur-Mer and Cherbourg with a rounding of the famous Fastnet Rock, offering a 736-mile race course to the IMOCAs. This race will also be a qualifier for the Route du Rhum. That will be followed by Cowes Week and the Round Britain and Ireland Race. Then from 20th to 23rd September, the Azimut Challenge will take place in Lorient (Brittany) offering a full dress rehearsal before the major event on the 2018 calendar.

It all comes to a climax with the Route du Rhum

To round off the busy 2018 season in the best way possible, the IMOCAs will be setting sail in the legendary Route du Rhum, Destination Guadeloupe. The starting gun will be fired off St. Malo on 4th November with the finish in Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe). Twenty places have been reserved for the IMOCAs, fifteen of which have already been taken up. This confirms the enthusiasm surrounding this event, where the standard looks likely to be very high for those wishing to follow in the footsteps of François Gabart, the winner of the last edition in 2014.

A year to go to the Barcelona World Race

In just a year from now, on 12th January 2019, the IMOCAs will set off in the Barcelona World Race, the double-handed round the world race. A new Notice of Race has been published confirming the new race format with two legs: Barcelona-Sydney and Sydney-Barcelona, with the possibility of changing co-skippers in Australia.

2018 IMOCA calendar:

  • 4th April: Safety week for the IMOCA skippers
  • 5th to 7th May: Guyader Grand Prix
  • 9th May: start of the Douarnenez-Cascais race (qualifier for the Route du Rhum)
  • 20th to 31st May: stand-by in Toulon or La Ciotat
  • 1st to 8th June: Monaco Globe Series
  • 9th to 12th June: stand-by in Cannes
  • 13th June: start of the Giraglia Rolex Cup
  • 23rd July: start of the Drheam Cup: La Trinité Sur Mer (Brittany) – Cherbourg at the tip of the Cherbourg Peninsula (qualifier for the Route du Rhum)
  • 6th to 9th August: Cowes Week
  • 12th to 18th August: Round Britain and Ireland Race
  • 20th to 23rd September: Azimut Challenge
  • 26th October to 3rd November: Boats will be present in St. Malo
  • 4th November: Start of the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe

Related Articles

The Transat CIC is well and truly on course
A parade of sail and the race village inaugurated The 15th edition of The Transat CIC, the famous solo race from France across the North Atlantic to New York which will start this Sunday from Lorient La Base took real shape. Posted today at 6:07 pm The Transat CIC Preview
A new beginning for Bellion and a return to solo racing for Pedote For Éric Bellion The Transat CIC, which starts from Lorient bound for New York on Sunday, is a huge moment in his journey to this year's Vendée Globe. Posted today at 9:07 am The Transat CIC coming to America
The city of New York is inextricably linked to the long history of solo ocean racing The Transat CIC is set to bring solo ocean racing's biggest, most modern IMOCA and Class40 fleet to the very heart of New York City. Posted on 22 Apr IMOCA introduces an impact reduction rule
The initiative marks a historic shift in the maritime industry IMOCA establishes pioneering impact reduction rule, leading sustainability in sailing by requiring a 15% reduction in boat's construction emissions between 2025 and 2028. Posted on 20 Apr Shawyer qualifies for the New York to Vendée Race
The Canadian skipper is preparing to line up with 30 fellow IMOCAs Scott Shawyer, the Canadian skipper of the IMOCA Be Water Positive, will be competing in the prestigious single-handed transatlantic race, the New York Vendée, which starts on 29 May 2024. Posted on 19 Apr The Ocean Race joins world leaders in Athens
Nature's Baton and the Relay4Nature connect at Our Ocean Conference The Ocean Race joined world leaders at the Our Ocean Conference 2024 at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) in Athens, Greece on Tuesday, who had gathered to advance measures to protect and restore ocean health. Posted on 17 Apr The Ocean Race sails into Athens
For the Our Ocean Conference UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Ocean hands Nature's Baton to Greece's Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Oceans and Coordinator of the conference. Posted on 15 Apr The Ocean Race and IOC UNESCO collaborate
Contributing towards the science we need for the ocean we want In the lead up to the 2024 Ocean Decade Conference, The Ocean Race today shared the impact of the data collected by teams and sailors through the race's science on board programme. Posted on 9 Apr The Ocean Race gathers critical polar ocean data
From Antarctica and the Northwest Passage The Ocean Race is providing critical data to international scientists studying the impact of climate change and plastic pollution on ocean health. Posted on 8 Apr Team Malizia's IMOCA yacht is back in the water
Spring has made its way to Lorient, as has a new set of foils Spring has made its way to Lorient. The first flowers are blooming and the IMOCA racing boats are, just like the blossoms, gradually appearing, emerging one by one from their sheds after three months of winter refit. Posted on 27 Mar
Copyright 2024 YY Online Services Ltd. registered in England no. 7895890
Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy