Top Sailing Teams feature B&G on-board for upcoming Transat Jacques Vabre
by Dulcie Allen, B&G 4 Nov 2021 17:02 UTC
B&G® Electronics will be used by more than two dozen entries, including 11th Hour Racing Team, LinkedOut and Time For Oceans
One of the world's toughest tests in sailing is set for early November with the Transat Jacques Vabre getting under way Sunday, November 7 in Le Havre, France. The two-handed transatlantic race featuring four classes of boats (Class 40, Imoca, Multi 50 and Ultime) follows the old coffee route across the northern Atlantic to the warmer climates of the Americas and Caribbean with this 15th Edition of the race finishing in Martinique for the first time.
B&G®, the world's leading sailing navigation and instrument specialist, will be featured on board more than twenty of the world's best sailing teams taking part in the Transat Jacques Vabre, including 11th Hour Racing Team, LinkedOut, Team Actual, Gitana Team, as well as Project Rescue Ocean among others.
"I am very proud to receive the support of B&G, a standard-bearer in the ocean racing world," said Axel Trehin, who will race his Class 40 boat under the banner of Project Rescue Ocean together with Frederic Denis. "It is a chance to be able to benefit from their know-how and their expertise to be able to perform in the race and maximize the visibility of the Project Rescue Ocean association."
B&G is partnered with two of the leading Imoca teams in the world including 11th Hour Racing Team with Skipper Charlie Enright, and LinkedOut led by Thomas Ruyant. 11th Hour Racing Team has two boats featuring B&G electronics entered in the TJV including "Alaka'i" - meaning leadership - its entry in 2019, and its latest design, the aptly-named "Malama" - meaning to care for in Hawaiian - that was unveiled this summer.
Malama is the first in a new generation of Imoca 60s, uniquely designed for round the world, crewed offshore racing. 11th Hour Racing Team finished fourth in the last TJV in 2019 with Enright joined on-board by French sailor Pascal Bidégorry. They will look to go a few spots better this go around after Apivia and Charal - both of which have B&G onboard - beat them to the finish in Brazil two years ago.
"In any race, whether it's the Transat Jacques Vabre or The Ocean Race, we need to be focused on speed, tactics, and our next move," said Charlie Enright, Skipper, 11th Hour Racing Team Malama. "The last thing we want to be doing is worrying about the accuracy of our instrumentation, or worse yet losing information. With B&G, we are always 100% confident in our equipment so we can spend all of our timing pushing our boat, 100%!"
With three new routes being sailed by the four classes for the first time, navigation and routing will be at a premium. The faster boats - Imocas, Multi 50 and Ultimes - will head south across the doldrums before rounding their marks and sailing due northwest into the finish in Fort de France, Martinique. The smaller Class 40 boats won't cross the equator but will round their mark in the islands of Cabo Verde before heading due west for the gruelling ocean crossing.
For more information on the Transat Jacques Vabre, the B&G teams and B&G racing, please visit www.bandg.com/blog/racing