The Mad Transatlantic Dash - Transat Cafe L'Or - Race opener review 30-10-25

When the clocks go back, the gales sweep in and the nights become unpleasantly long, its time for most normal people to lay up their boats or head for sunnier climes down south. But not in the offshore rock star scene. For them, the end of October means it’s time to get out there and put hammer down across the Atlantic in a double handed race from Le Havre to Martinique, the Transat Cafe L’Or. It’s a huge event in France and pulls in everyone from the most accomplished to the rising stars of the shorthanded offshore world. And the locals know it. It might be winter but the start is as much a festival of high tech sail as it it about a long distance event with a race village that pulls in thousands of spectators every day. The boats are something else as well, with each of the four classes representing the leading edge of offshore racing from the massive 32m Ultims, to the insane Ocean Fifties that will blast their way around the two longest courses. In the monohulls its the IMOCA 60 footers, several of which have come hot foot from The Ocean Race Europe, through to the biggest class of the four, the radical looking Class 40s. In the first of several features based on this race, the boats and the characters involved, PlanetSail was there at the start in Le Havre to stroll the docks, talk to the key players and feel the vibe around one of France’s biggest offshore races.