Transat Jacques Vabre: Imocas started with Boris Herrmann, all fleets active

The Imoca class had to wait the longest for their start in the 16th Transat Jacques Vabre. Nine days after the originally scheduled start day on 29 October, the 60-foot projectiles started the race on Tuesday morning. Off Le Havre, the record start with 40 Imocas offered impressive images. In choppy green-grey seas, whitecaps and winds of 16 to 20 knots, almost all of the double-handed crews crossed the line well.

Time penalty against "Bureau Vallée", "Malizia - Seaexplorer" gets off to a good start

Only Louis Burton and Davy Beaudart made an annoying starting mistake on "Bureau Vallée". The often impetuous skipper and his co-pilot passed the start line on the wrong side and were given an extremely painful five-hour penalty. After a punctual start on Tuesday morning at 9.30 a.m., the Imoca fleet is expected to reach the finish line off Fort-de-France in around twelve to 14 days.

Boris Herrmann is expecting a challenging race, which he is looking forward to with great anticipation and excitement: "It won't be easy, because we have to pass one or two strong weather fronts with winds gusting up to 50 knots. However, the new start and the new route now open up many more strategic opportunities."

German quintet in action

With Boris Herrmann, the Munich-born "Macsf" skipper Isabelle Joschke and Andreas Baden from Kiel on the French "Nexans - Art & Fenêtres", three Germans are competing in the popular Imoca class, which celebrated a remarkable record with 40 boats on the starting line.

A good hour after the start of the race, the co-favourite "Charal" with Jérémie Beyou and Franck Cammas was leading ahead of "Groupe Dubreuil" with Team Guyot's Ocean Race navigator Sébastien Simon and Iker Martinez. "Paprec Arkéa" with Yoann Richomme and Yann Eliès followed in third place. The top boats were also travelling reefed at speeds of up to 18 knots.

Autopilot problems on "Nexans - Art & Fenêtres" fixed

Team Malizia was initially in eleventh place a good two hours after the start. "Macsf" followed in 18th place and "Nexans - Art & Fenêtres", whose crew still had to deal with problems with the autopilot in the morning, in 32nd place. Co-skipper Andreas Baden from Kiel reported early Tuesday morning before the start: "We struggled with the malfunctioning autopilot for three hours in the morning, but were able to solve the problem."

Andreas Baden reported from the race course shortly after the starting signal: "We're in the race. Things are going pretty well for us at the moment. We are in the second reef with J3, we have a good feeling for the boat." Andreas Baden continued: "We got off to a good start and all systems are go. The next few hours will demand a lot from us, but we are well prepared and motivated."

Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink advance in the Class 40

In the Class 40, which started the day before from Lorient, Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink have now fought their way up from 34th to 17th place on their "Sign for Com". After the first night at sea on Tuesday morning, the young professionals from Hamburg were among the fastest boats in their fleet and are expected to reach their Caribbean destination on 22 November.

Armel Le Cléac'h and Sébastien Josse on "Banque Populaire XI" continue to set the tone in the Ultims. On the morning of 7 November, the two Frenchmen defended a lead of a good 30 nautical miles over "SVR Lazartigue" and 100 nautical miles over defending champions Charles Caudrelier and Erwan Israël on "Edmond de Rothschild". The Ultim giants are currently heading for the island of Ascension.

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