Transat Jacques Vabre: Quable still alongside Nicolas Jossier

On 7 November, 158 skippers aboard 79 boats, including 45 Class 40 vessels (monohull racing and cruising yachts), set sail from the Paul Vatine basin in Le Havre for the legendary Transat Jacques Vabre.

A legendary race!

For its 15th edition, the ‘Coffee Route’ heads for the West Indies, with Fort-de-France Bay as its destination. With a stopover in Cape Verde for this class of yacht, it is the longest and most demanding double-handed race given the weather conditions!

The Transat Jacques Vabre in figures:

• 1993: Launch of the Route du Café.
• 4,600 miles to cover for Class 40s, 5,800 for IMOCA and Ocean Fifty class boats, and 7,500 for Ultime class boats.‍
• 79 boats across 4 different classes (5 Ultime, 22 IMOCA, 7 Ocean Fifty and 45 Class 40) with 3 separate routes leading to a simultaneous finish.
• A record set in 2017 and held by Thomas Coville and Jean-Luc Nélias (Sodebo) in 7 days, 22 hours, 7 minutes and 27 seconds.

Quable is still in the race with Nicolas Jossier!

Since the 2018 Route du Rhum, Quable has been partnered with skipper Nicolas Jossier. Born out of a friendship between Quable’s founder – a sailing enthusiast – and the professional skipper, this collaboration has generated a real buzz amongst the Quable teams.

Following a difficult personal journey and strong results in his most recent races (6th in the Normandy Channel Race and 7th in the Rolex Fastnet Race), Nicolas Jossier has made a very strong start to the race! After a week of the Transat, half of which he spent leading the race, Nicolas and Alexis Loison are now heading towards Cape Verde en route to Martinique aboard their Class 40 #154, named “La Manche #Evidence Nautique”.

‍Always focused on people and the causes that matter to him, Nicolas wanted to partner with sponsors who share his ethos. Quable is proud to be part of this and to support Nicolas and Alexis alongside “France Lymphome Espoir”, “the Department of La Manche” and many other partners!For Quable, this sponsorship is much more than just a partnership; it’s also a way of bringing teams together around a non-work-related cause: whether through hearing about his adventure and life on board, or by taking a tour of the monohull. A special daily internal system has been set up to follow our champion Nicolas’s adventure step by step!

The whole of Quable is supporting Nicolas and wishing him the greatest of rewards: to win the Route du Café!

A real virtual challenge

This year, the Transat Jacques Vabre is introducing a fifth boat class: the Virtual Regatta! The aim is to strengthen the link between real-life sailing and virtual sailing, which (without the physical exertion) requires significant commitment as well as knowledge of various sailing strategies.

‍A team of young sailors, ready to fly the Quable PIM colours all the way to Martinique, has therefore been formed! If you’d like to take part, it’s not too late: Virtual Regata.

Logbook

• 7 November 2021: It’s the big day! Nicolas and his crew of two set sail, hugging the Breton coastline.
• 08/11/2021: After a blistering start, Nicolas’s Class 40 is now in the top three! Heading for Pointe du Raz!
• 10/11/2021: Our duo are making good progress through the Bay of Biscay! Thanks to a successful strategy, they’re now firmly in first place as they head for Cape Finisterre!

• 12/11/2021: What a race! Off the coast of Portugal, Nicolas is still leading this Transat with a slight lead thanks to favourable winds! Heading for the Canary Islands.
• 15/11/2021: Nicolas has now been in the leading pack for two days. In 5th place off the Canary Islands, he’s hot on the heels of the leader, who is just a few miles ahead of him...

• 17/11/2021: It seems the race has settled into a steady rhythm as we head for Cape Verde! Nicolas and Alexis are still in 5th place and the standings have barely changed! The weather conditions are very favourable for reaching the halfway mark, which will indicate the route to take towards Martinique!

• 18/11/2021: Here they are now off the coast of Cape Verde! The home straight lies ahead of them, with a finish expected around 30 November. As for the standings, after sailing down the African coast in the leading group, our duo were caught out by tricky weather, which allowed the stragglers to get back into the race. Nothing is decided yet; there’s still a long way to go...

Class 40 #154 is shown in blue and orange on the map

• 21/11/2021: After a difficult passage round Cape Verde, the next stop is Martinique! There is now nothing but the vast expanse of the ocean around our duo, and the next land in sight is the Rocher du Diamant, a mandatory waypoint before crossing the finish line. The monohull is now back in the leading group following a successful strategy to weather the bad conditions. What a source of pride! This promises an intense finish to the race...

The Class 40 #154 is shown in blue and orange on the map

• 23/11/2021: With just a few days to go before the finish, Nicolas and Alexis are having to contend with Sargassum, an endemic type of seaweed that proliferates uncontrollably at sea and along the Caribbean coastline. It clings to the monohull and causes the sailors no end of trouble by slowing their progress. As for the race, positions are shifting with the winds. There are now around ten boats in contention for the top places, although pole position seems to be reserved for the Volvo crew… but there’s still a long way to go! Finish expected on 30 November!
• 29/11/2021: Nicolas and Alexis finished in 6th place in the race in 22 days, 2 hours, 25 minutes and 7 seconds after a thrilling finish! Well done, gentlemen, on this magnificent regatta.