Transat CIC: The 14-day countdown has started - Boris Herrmann ahead of the North Atlantic race
Tatjana Pokorny
· 14.04.2024
The Transat CIC is a race with a rich sailing history, a pure and intense single-handed challenge - currently for the Imoca, Class 40 and Vintage classes. It takes its participants from Lorient in Brittany over 3,500 nautical miles to New York. The hurdles are a series of lows that sweep across the North Atlantic and create headwinds - the main feature of this race. In the early days of the Transat CIC, which was once also known as the Ostar or English Transat, the record for crossing the Atlantic was 40 days. Today, the best soloists at the helm of the fastest boats can cover the same distance in just eight days.
The first heroes: Francis Chichester and Éric Tabarly
The race, whose beginnings since its premiere in 1960 brought fame to legends such as Francis Chichester ("Gipsy Moth III") and Éric Tabarly, enjoys a high reputation not only in France. It started in 1960, in the days of the compass and sextant, with five soloists sailing across the North Atlantic from Plymouth. Francis Chichester won the inaugural race in 40 days, 12 hours and 30 minutes. Today, the best of the following generations only need around a fifth of the time.
Éric Tabarly completed the second Ostar from Plymouth to Newport on Rhode Island in 1994 in 27 days, 3 hours and 56 minutes. He won in 1964 and 1976, and the course to Newport remained the same in 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000. In 2004 and 2008, the race left the same starting harbour of Plymouth for Boston. After a long break, the race from Plymouth to New York was revived in 2016 with 25 participants. Francçois Gabart, the 2013 Vendée Globe dominator, won the race, but the 2020 Transat CIC had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now it is back and on course for its former glory days.
Although the golden participation record of 125 boats set in 1976 remains unrivalled for the time being, the good quantity of 48 boats has almost doubled the starting field of the last edition sailed in 2016 (25 boats). The outstanding quality of the Transat CIC fleet is mainly due to the strong Imoca class and its protagonists, who are preparing for the 10th Vendée Globe, which starts on 10 November this year, with the first of two consecutive Transats. Most of them are taking advantage of the double opportunity to also take part in the New York - Les Sables-d'Olonne, the return race to Europe.
New wings and new sails for Boris Herrmann
This includes Boris Herrmann, who is currently preparing for his start in the Transat CIC in Brittany with "Malizia - Seaexplorer". Equipped with new foils, the German Imoca is set to show what it is made of ahead of Herrmann's second Vendée Globe participation. With a slightly heavier keel bomb, a slightly higher centre of gravity for the foils and the new pair of maximum wing sizes in accordance with the class rules, skipper Boris Herrmann and Team Malizia believe their boat is on a good course after initial tests and training.
"We are working as hard as we can in training and are getting very encouraging results," said Boris Herrmann at the weekend. In this optimisation phase, the Transat CIC and the return regatta are just the right tests of timing. Some new sails for "Malizia - Seaexplorer" will also arrive just in time for the Transat challenge. Boris Herrmann says: "We have a new J2, a little smaller and a little different. And we didn't have a jib top before. A sail that starts from the bow. I had used it on the old boat in the last Vendée Globe and wanted to have it again now. It's all being finalised so that I can use it on the two transats."
Boris Herrmann has just completed a week of training with the Pôle Course au Large in Port-la-Forêt, including an overnight offshore trip. All the greats of Imoca sport were there: Charlie Dalin, Thomas Ruyant, Jérémie Beyou, Yann Richomme, Sam Davies, Justine Mettraux and more. The favourites are warming up for the North Atlantic race. Team Malizia's final tests are scheduled for the third week of April, before strategic, navigational and other considerations come into play in the transat countdown to the race, which, to the delight of most of the racing teams, starts off the jetties of their home port of La Base in Lorient.
Isabelle Joschke and Nico Lunven on board
French-German Isabelle Joschke is also setting sail from here on her "Macsf". However, she will "only" be competing in the Transat CIC, not the return race to Les Sables-d'Olonne, in order to avoid putting too much strain on herself on the Vendée Globe course. For Isabelle Joschke, less is more before her second Vendée Globe start: "To be better, I need a lot of rest. So I'm not sailing the New York Vendée. I will recover there."
Team Malizia's former Ocean Race navigator Nico Lunven will also be taking part in the Transats on "Holcim - PRB". His assessment: "The Transat CIC is an emblematic race. Historically, it is the English Transat, which Éric Tabarly won twice. The race enabled France to discover sailing and ocean racing. It is a challenging race in the North Atlantic, against the prevailing winds, with a marvellous arrival in New York. It's rare to sail to the United States, and arriving in New York with an Imoca after crossing the Atlantic is a dream."
The schedule for the Transat CIC
The 15th edition of the Transat CIC begins with the opening of the Race Village in Lorient on 23 April. The parade of the Imoca and Class 40 fleets is scheduled for the afternoon of 23 April from 2pm. The boats will sail around the island of Groix and return to La Base harbour at around 5.30 pm. In the evening, the film "Mon double Everest" ("My double Everest") with Maxime Sorel will be shown in the auditorium of the Cité de la Voile from 8.30 pm. The Transat CIC starts on 28 April at 3.45 pm. The live broadcast will start at 3.15 pm and will include via the organisers' homepage to see.
