The 15th Transat Jacques Vabre is underway: Spectacular Transat start in dream conditions

The starting signal for the Transat Jacques Vabre was given punctually at 1.27 pm on Sunday in Le Havre. 79 double-handed crews in four classes are fighting for the fastest possible passage on the 300-year-old coffee route to Martinique. The imposing Ultime giants pulled away fastest in fresh winds of 15 to 20 knots. The favourite among the five futuristic trimarans more than 30 metres long is the French "Maxi Edmond de Rothschild" with America's Cup sailor Franck Cammas and Ocean Race winner Charles Caudrelier. The smaller Ocean Fifty trimarans, Imocas and Class 40 yachts are also in demand. To ensure that the fleet of boats of different sizes does not become too spread out, the Ultimes will complete the longest course at 7500 nautical miles. The Class 40 yachts have 4500 nautical miles ahead of them. The fastest yachts are expected to arrive in the Caribbean in less than two weeks. The slowest yachts could take twice as long.

Boris Herrmann there as a fan

In the Imoca class, Munich-born French-German Isabelle Joschke on "Macsf" is one of 14 women in the race. Boris Herrmann had to drop out without his own boat. The Hamburg native prefers to concentrate on his new building in Vannes, France. However, the 40-year-old and his team Malizia did not miss the spectacular start off Le Havre on their way to Vannes and were there live and enthusiastically on the water. "The weather was brilliant and it was exciting to see the boats so close on the water," said Herrmann.

After emotional farewell scenes on Sunday morning, the boats were on the move in the Le Havre area at midday! Five Ultimes, seven Ocean Fifties, 22 Imocas and 45 Class40 yachts transformed the starting area into a moving boat show of superlatives. What the Ultimes in particular, but also the Imocas and the other divisions, have to offer in terms of technology can be seen, for example this clip with François Gabart (please click!) who presented his new giant "SVR Lazartigue" before the start. The fleet first set course for the first turning mark off Etrat, where hundreds of fans along the white cliffs watched in awe as the boats raced towards them. The two-handed teams then pointed their bows westwards along the busy English Channel, where they faced a challenging night in strong currents and weakening winds.

After the first four and a half hours, the three favourites had already taken the lead in the Imoca class: Jérémie Beyou and Chrostopher Pratt on "Charal" were in first place ahead of Thomas Ruyant and Morgan Lagravière on "LinkedOut" and Charlie Dalin with Paul Meilhat on "Apivia". Boris Herrmann's former "Seaexplorer - Yacht Club de Monaco" was in ninth place under its new name "Fortinet - Best Western" with owner Romain Attanasio and Sébastien Marsset. Isabelle Joschke and sailing partner Fabien Delahaye had initially lined up in 13th place. Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelier, the top favourites on "Maxi Edmond de Rothschild", also led their field in the Ultimes, having already built up a lead of almost three nautical miles over "Sodebo Ultim 3" and five nautical miles over "Banque Populaire XI" after the first few hours. In Class40, Antoine Carpentier and Pablo Santurde on "Redman" were just ahead of Amélie Grassi and Marie Riou on "La Boulangere Bio" - the all-female crew underlined their ambition at the start. Leading the Class40 for the time being were Quentin Vlamync and Lalou Roucayrol on "Arkema". Click here for the intermediate results (please click!).