In a thrilling event that is held each alternate calendar year, the highly anticipated and exacting Transat Jacques Vabre Ocean Race did not disappoint in 2021. Race winner Primordial crossed the finish line after 15 days, 13 hours, 27 minutes, and 14 seconds of intense competition.
Covering a route based upon the historic coffee trading route between France and Brazil, the 5800 miles double-handed offshore course departs from Le Havre, crosses the equator twice, taking monohulls and multihulls on two passages through the doldrums. This year, the race concludes for the first time in Fort-du-France Bay on the western coast of Martinique.
This innovative course change has made it possible to propose 3 different tracks for each of the Class 40, Ultime, Imoca, and Ocean Fifty sailing classes participating in the race. Strong numbers were in evidence for this year’s 2021 competition with a record number of entries, 79 in total.
The line up of yachts by class consisted of -
- Ultime - 5,
- Ocean Fifty - 7,
- Imoca - 22,
- and Class 40 - 45.
As the longest and most challenging double-handed transatlantic ocean race, the Transat Jacques Vabre got underway in early November 2021 under light winds and saw racing crews navigating the challenging waters of the English Channel before heading west.
Over the following 28 days, a total of 4 racing crews retired from the competition. The first casualty at just 4 days in, saw 60-foot race yacht and 11th Hour Racing Team’s Alaka’i dismasted amid choppy seas and 23-knot winds. The yacht’s Suisse-British crew of Justine Mettraux and Simon Fisher were unharmed but left bitterly disappointed as they were forced to abandon the prestigious race.
After a stretch of strenuous sailing and tackling the tricky region around the Canary Islands, Day 5 saw leading yacht Apviva give up her first place position first to LinkedOut, followed by Charal some time after. The 11th Hour Racing Team Malama, crewed by Charlie Enright (USA) and Pascal Bidegorry (FRA), had an impressive day covering 450 miles in 24 hours despite the minor repairs and growing workload associated with crewing a brand new boat.
By the 7th day Malama was lying in 5th place off the Western Sahara coast. Sadly, disaster struck again for the 11th Hour Sailing team, and damage to the trailing edge of the yacht’s keel fin caused vibrations that restricted sailing speeds for Malama, making the remainder of the race a cautious and closely managed navigation to the end.
This year’s 2021 Transat Jacques Vabre 15th edition race was a record event from start to finish, with 75 crews and 150 sailors completing the demanding and challenging course to finish in Martinique. In an exciting and colorful race that pitted teams against testing conditions and unusual weather, spectators eagerly awaited the final result.
Ocean Fifty with the boat Primonial, piloted by Sébastien Rogues and Matthieu Souben was the first class to have crossed the line, and arrive at Fort-de-France followed by Ultime’s impressive Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, crewed by Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelier. 2nd place for Ocean Fifty was claimed by Keosie and Leyton. The Imoca race offered victory to French skippers Thomas Ruyant and Morgan Lagraviere on LinkedOut, and Apiva crossed the finish line 20 hours later, followed by Charal.
Winning skipper of Ocean Fifty’s Primordial, Matthieu Souben, said, “We’re very emotional right now. We didn’t expect it to be easy, we said before the start that there were no favorites. It’s a really great race, but it has been hard because it has been longer than expected. It has required a lot of commitment; the chess game on the water started early.
We gave it our all and are totally exhausted now.”
Race followers had to wait a few days for the outcome of the Class40 race, which had a hard-fought battle until the end and was finally won by Antoine Carpentier and Pablo Santurde del Arco on Redman. 2nd and 3rd place for Imoca was taken by Banque du Leman and its French skippers, and Seafrigo - Sogestran with its all Swiss crew.
With three different routes for the 4 racing classes, the aim was to demonstrate the high level of competitiveness between boats in the race and respect routes going from north to south. In a race that tops the ranks as the longest 2 men transatlantic competition, the different courses seem to have been a success.
Caron Caroline, Managing Director Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie le Havre, stated that:
“We wanted to create much more than a sailing event. We wanted to go beyond the simple vision of a race, and we succeeded”
The attendance figures seem to indicate that the strategy was ultimately effective, with 450,000 visitors attending the start of race celebrations. Along with the actual attendance of race supporters, the media coverage extended globally to reach an audience of 7 million viewers, and 53 media outlets relayed the competition highlights to 190 different territories around the world.
In terms of global reach, online attention was just as impressive. Transat Jacques Vabre’s website counted more than 18 million pages and 5 million video views, totaling a watch time of 5.5 million minutes, and social channels reached 7 million accounts and amassed more than 16 million impressions.
The organizers of the 2021 race now have their sights set firmly on 2023 and will take the lessons learned from this year’s event and use them in the planning of the next competition. Focus will be placed heavily upon class winners and on strengthening the ties between the territories of Le Havre and Martinique.
