Transat Jacques Vabre: 40 knots arriving in Biscay, Italy in the hunt for the big hit

The docks of Le Havre are packed with sailors, industry insiders and enthusiasts, because in just under 48 hours, on Sunday, October 29, the highlight race of this 2023 ocean race, the Transat Jacques Vabre, will start. There are 4500 miles that the fleet of Class 40s, Imoca 60s, Multi 50s and Ultim will have to cover to reach Martinique, where the finish line will be placed. A doubles race, not a solo race like the Route du Rhum, which has now become a super classic of ocean sailing, not least because it comes one year before Vendée Globe 2024.

In these hours all eyes of the skippers in the race are on the PC monitors where the weather forecast is scrolling, with a start and the first 48 hours looking particularly turbulent and complicated. There will be a lot of Italy in this Transat Jacques Vabre, with as many as 6 skippers on the starting line. Five will be those engaged among the Class 40s: Ambrogio Beccaria, Alberto Bona, Andrea Fornaro, Alberto Riva and Pietro Luciani. Giancarlo Pedote will be among the Imoca 60 instead.

The Sailing Newspaper has already landed in Le Havre and we will tell you live from the docks about the atmosphere there and the moods of the skippers just hours before the start.

Transat Jacques Vabre – Incoming bad weather.

The situation seems to have been outlined for a few days already: the beginning will be in medium wind, but almost immediately the situation will change dramatically. In fact, there is a double disturbance front coming, with west-northwest winds even exceeding 40 knots . The first will pass very quickly close to the start, leaving an area with less wind behind it; the second is expected, less violent, between Monday and Tuesday.

The strategy in this regard becomes quite simple: save boats in the first 24-48 hours and start attacking along Portugal. Ultim, Imoca, and Multi 50 should have good timing to avoid the worst part of the depression, the fleet most at risk, however, is the Class 40s, which, being smaller and less fast, may be forced to deal with complex conditions, as the announced waves have a height around 4 meters, with a fairly short period.

Whoever succeeds first in putting the bow to the south after rounding Finisterre could cash in on a major advantage. A situation therefore to be followed closely.

Transat Jacques Vabre – The Italians’ chances in the Class 40s

Italian sailing has never been so competitive in the Ocean: all our skippers come with well-structured sports projects, backed by solid sponsors, all with a chance to do well in this Transat Jacques Vabre.

If we had to make predictions, Ambrogio Beccaria, with Nicolas Andrieu, on Allagrande Pirelli and Alberto Bona on IBSA, paired with Pablo Santurde, are the ones who start one step ahead of the others. The reason is simple to explain: first of all there is talent, which both have amply demonstrated to have, and then there are two ultra-competitive boats such as Beccaria’s Musa 40 and Bona’s Mach 3. Two designs that have proven to be among the fastest in the fleet and already have a year of fine-tuning behind them, which is crucial in terms of reliability and performance development.

We can say that Ambrose Beccaria is one of the favorites for the final victory. And Alberto Bona one of the skippers who could contend for a position on the podium, or at least in the top 5. Compared to Bona, in the last season Beccaria showed perhaps a pinch more competitive “nastiness” and “cynicism” when the race is in the hand-to-hand with very small gaps, but we are talking about minimal differences and the final result will be determined by the details and a pinch of luck. The prediction in this regard remains wide open for both.

Andrea Fornaro and Alberto Riva are also sailing on a new Musa 40, the former paired with Benoit Hantzperg, the latter with Jean Marre. They start one step behind Bona and Beccaria simply because they only launched their boats during last summer and thus had a few months to put in precisely and work on boat reliability.

Their role could be that of potential outsiders, with Alberto Riva to be especially monitored because he could become one of the surprises of this Transat Jacques Vabre.

Pietro Luciani runs instead in the role of co-skipper aboard the Class 40 Dekuple, paired with William Mathelin. This is not a Class 40 that can keep up with the pace of the very first ones, but it is likely nonetheless to expect a race behind or inside the top 10.

Transat Jacques Vabre – Pedote and Prysmian’s new foils

Giancarlo Pedote is now an experienced skipper in the Imoca 60 fleet, having already completed a Vendée Globe and several transatlantics. He will be participating in the Transat Jacques Vabre paired with Gaston Morvan, and he will be on the starting line with his Prysmian updated with a bow and a pair of new foils. This is not enough to make Prysmian a boat fighting for the podium, as it still remains a craft that is now 8 years old under the hull. It will, however, be helpful in putting Pedote in a position to be able to race in the middle of the foil boat fleet.

For the Tuscan skipper, this Transat is an important test on his path to the next Vendée Globe. He needs to shake off the frustration of the last few races where he did not have a boat capable of sticking to the top train. The feeling that something more is also needed on his part: Pedote has been consistently cautious in his racing in recent outings, understandably caused by the fact that he does not have a budget at the level of the top teams in the class and any possible breakdown makes his schedule more difficult. If some Imoca 60s have ground teams composed of dozens and dozens of people, the same cannot be said of Giancarlo, who is indeed one of the first to have to “get his hands dirty” on the construction site. A not insignificant detail, which may limit the conviction to “attack” in the regatta, staying on a less risky course of action.

To see him in the top 10 of the class would be a very important achievement, also in terms of his confidence in himself and in the abilities he has so many times shown to have. Come on Giancarlo!

Mauro Giuffrè