18 IMOCAs Blast Off..... its the Transat Café L’OR 2025
The Transat Café L’OR closes a five-event IMOCA programme that has seen 22 boats compete across Europe and the Atlantic in both fully-crewed and double-handed formats. It also sets the stage for an even bigger 2026 season, with 11 new IMOCAs currently under construction — the clearest sign yet that the Class continues to grow in power, pace, and prestige.
Yoann Richomme: Calm, Confident, and Chasing Gold
Few sailors approach the IMOCA game with the quiet precision of Yoann Richomme. Already a two-time transatlantic race winner, and runner-up in the 2024 Vendée Globe, Richomme is a man who knows both how to pace an ocean and when to strike. Now, sailing alongside Corentin Horeau aboard Paprec Arkéa, he’s back in contention — and firmly among the favourites to win the Transat Café L’OR 2025.
“We’ve got a fairly good chance,” Richomme told the IMOCA Class in the days before the start. “Our boat is well suited to the conditions — November storms, big downwind legs, rough seas — it’s what we love. It’s everything IMOCA racing is about.”
That confidence is not misplaced. Paprec Arkéa has enjoyed a steady upward curve all season, finishing third in the Rolex Fastnet Race and second in The Ocean Race Europe. Add in Richomme’s relentless drive and Horeau’s tactical brilliance, and the duo are a potent force — cool, methodical, and quietly determined to go one better than their second-place finish in this same race two years ago.
Route to Martinique: A Tactical and Meteorological Minefield
The course itself is a sailor’s riddle. From Le Havre, the fleet charges through the Channel, then dives southwest past Ushant and Cape Finisterre, slipping beneath the Canary Islands before catching the Trade Winds across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. On paper, it’s simple. In practice, it’s chaos.
“It’s going to be strong out of the Channel,” Richomme said before the start. “We’ll be flat-out early on, then hit a ridge of light air in Biscay. After that, there’s a low off Portugal, and everything depends on how that develops. It could make or break the race.”
With the boats capable of sustained speeds above 30 knots, the early stages will be brutal — long hours on deck, short bursts of sleep, and every decision magnified. Richomme and Horeau will need to balance aggression with caution as the fleet snakes its way toward the Trades, where the foilers will finally stretch their wings for a downwind drag race to the finish.
The Heavy Hitters: Elite Crews Line Up for the Season Finale
The 2025 Transat Café L’OR has drawn one of the strongest IMOCA line-ups of the decade. At the front of the pack, expect fierce competition from:
Sam Goodchild & Loïs Berrehar (MACIF Santé Prévoyance) – current IMOCA Globe Series leaders, consistent and fast in all conditions.
Ambrogio Beccaria & Thomas Ruyant (Allagrande Mapei Racing) – fresh from success in The Ocean Race Europe, combining Italian flair with northern grit.
Elodie Bonafous & Yann Eliès (Association Petits Princes–Quéguiner) – a mixed-crew powerhouse with serious Figaro and Vendée experience.
Jérémie Beyou & Morgan Lagravière (Charal) – the ultimate veterans of foiling IMOCA racing, always dangerous in big breeze.
Further down the fleet, the talent runs deep. Sam Davies & Violette Dorange (Initiatives-Cœur), Justine Mettraux & Xavier Macaire (Teamwork–Team SNEF), and Romain Attanasio & Maxime Sorel (Fortinet–Best Western) bring years of Vendée Globe and transatlantic pedigree.
Even the so-called “daggerboard division” — featuring Nico D’Estais & Simon Koster on Café Joyeux — promises close racing, with boats separated by only fractions of a knot in performance. Expect them to punch above their weight in the early going, before the foilers take off in the Trades.
New Partnerships and Big Names in Transition
Another storyline to watch is the newly-renamed 11th Hour Racing Team, co-skippered by Francesca Clapcich and Will Harris, sailing the ex-Malizia–Seaexplorer. For Harris, this will be the final outing on this battle-proven foiler before Team Malizia takes delivery of its new generation IMOCA next summer.
“We finished seventh last time with Boris (Herrmann),” Harris explained. “Now I’d like to beat that. There are eight big foiling boats capable of winning, so a top-five finish would be really satisfying.”
It’s this mix of fresh ambition and veteran know-how that makes IMOCA racing so intoxicating — and why the Transat Café L’OR has quickly earned its place as a must-win on the professional ocean racing calendar.
Fleet Growth and the Future of IMOCA
This year’s race doesn’t just mark the end of a season — it signals the dawn of a new era for IMOCA. With 11 new boats in build, the Class is entering a phase of unprecedented expansion, powered by growing fan engagement, advanced sustainability goals, and crossover attention from other major events like The Ocean Race and Vendée Globe.
From Paprec Arkéa to MACIF and Charal, the latest generation of IMOCA designs has pushed the limits of performance — bigger foils, lighter hulls, smarter energy systems, and next-generation autopilots that are redefining solo and double-handed ocean racing.
Each transatlantic race becomes a live testing ground for what will eventually appear on the Vendée Globe start line in 2028. And that’s what makes Le Havre’s dockside buzz electric — sailors, designers, and sponsors all watching every mile like it’s a laboratory in motion.
The Stakes: Series Points and Personal Glory
For Richomme, the Transat Café L’OR carries more than just the lure of another trophy. He currently sits third in the IMOCA Globe Series standings, just behind Paul Meilhat (Biotherm) and leader Sam Goodchild. A strong result could lift him to second, or even challenge for the top spot — depending on how MACIF fares.
“It’s probably a long shot to catch Sam unless he has a problem — and you never wish that on anyone,” Richomme said. “But I’ve never won the IMOCA Globe Series, and that’s something I’d love to change.”
The Stage Is Set
With 18 boats on the start line, 4,350 miles to the Caribbean, and an Atlantic full of shifting weather systems, the 2025 Transat Café L’OR promises to be the most exhilarating finale the IMOCA Class has seen in years.
The northwesterly start will test nerves, the light-air ridge in Biscay will sort the tacticians from the gamblers, and the final 1,000-mile Trade Wind run to Martinique will be pure foiling poetry.
As ever in ocean racing, nothing is certain — except that the fleet will arrive salt-crusted, exhausted, and changed by the crossing.
And somewhere on the docks of Fort-de-France, a new transatlantic champion will lift the trophy — proof once again that the IMOCA Class remains sailing’s purest test of endurance, technology, and human will.