It’s just over a month until the start of the Transat CIC, and with the press conference heldin Lorient last Friday, March 15 we officially got into the heart of the preparations.
OC Sport Pen Duick – the organiser of the regatta – summoned all the skippers participating in this challenging crossing to Lorient, the French capital of ocean sailing. Before Daniel Baal, President of title partner CIC, Fabrice Loher, Mayor of Lorient and Loïg Chesnais-Girard, President of the Brittany region, the sailors paraded on an actual catwalk that led them to the stage, where the traditional ritual picture was taken.
“Before enjoying the excitement of the arrival”,reads the press release issued by the organisation,“you will have to show some resilience. Weather phenomena can be particularly dangerous in the North Atlantic at the end of winter. Skippers will have to brave storms and wind, usually while close-hauling. The conditions promise to be challenging for both the boats and the sailors, who will rediscover the joys of solo sailing one year after a season dedicated to double-handed racing”.
On the starting line – together with Alberto Bona with his IBSA and 12 other Class40s – will be 33 IMOCAs and 2 Vintage class crafts, for a total of 48 boats and a diverse collection of sailors, from the most famous oceanic navigators, such as “le Roi” Jean Le Cam, to the very young Violette Dorange, 22 years old, on the IMOCA Devenir and the twenty-three year old Thimoté Polet on board the Class40 Zeiss.