Three 50ft trimarans capsize in first night of Transat race: all skippers rescued  

The Transat Café L’Or – formerly known as the Transat Jacques Vabre – has got off to a dramatic start with three Ocean Fifty trimarans capsizing in the first night of racing.

The Transat Café L’Or – formerly known as the Transat Jacques Vabre – has got off to a dramatic start with three Ocean Fifty trimarans capsizing in the first night of racing.

Four classes compete in the double-handed transatlantic race from Le Havre to Martinique: Ocean Fifty trimarans, Ultim trimarans, Class 40 monohulls and IMOCA monohulls.

A series of fronts in the Channel and North Atlantic have made conditions difficult, with the race village closed on Thursday 23 October. The scheduled start for the Ultims, Class 40s and IMOCAs was delayed from Saturday 25 to today, Sunday 26 October.

However, the 10 trimarans in the Ocean Fifty fleet started on Saturday afternoon at 1630hrs, aiming to get out of the Channel before the biggest winds hit on Sunday night.

Three trimarans capsize

The first capsize was reported on the first evening at 2027 UTC (1027 pm local time) when the Ocean Fifty Lazare X Hellio flipped off La Hague, the first peninsular after the start at Le Havre. The trimaran had set off just four hours previously. Both skippers, Erwan Le Draoulec and Tanguy Le Turquais, were safely airlifted to shore.

French coastguard services (SNSM) marked the boat’s position, which was later recovered.

Weather conditions in the area were reported as rough, with steady winds of 22 to 25 knots, gusts up to 30 knots, and 3m waves.

Skipper Tanguy Le Turquais posted on social media today: “Emotionally I can say that it was a bit shocking to see Erwan get in the helicopter from the central hull, then my turn [to get into the] chopper and see Lazarus x Hellio, with its white crossbeams and hulls half underwater… These are quite shocking images.”

Around four hours later at 0025 UTC (0225 local time), the race management team was informed that a second Ocean Fifty, Koesio, had capsized north of Guernsey. At the time, the boat was in 8th position and sailing in a 25-knot northerly wind with 2.5m waves.

Co-skippers Erwan Leroux and Audrey Ogereau were both safe and unhurt, and rescued by helicopter. On Sunday morning the wreck of the trimaran had washed up on a shingle beach at Perelle on Guernsey.

Next to capsize was Inter Invest, skippered by Matthieu Perraut and Jean-Baptiste Gellée, which was reported as having capsized off the coast of the Abers, the north-west the tip of Brittany at 0405 UTC. Co-skippers Perraut and Gellée were also both safe and in good health, and airlifted from the trimaran around 0600. The boat was later salvaged by the 35m/115ft trimaran Merida.

Ocean Fifty: on the red line

The Ocean Fifty fleet is notorious for racing ‘on the edge’. In 2018 six of the 50ft trimarans started the TJV, with only three finishing.

“The vigilance level is a little higher than for the other [classes],” commented Elodie-Jane Mettraux before the race. Mettraux is racing ​​with Anne-Claire Le Berre on Upwind by MerConcept.

“We know there’s a red line that we mustn’t cross, otherwise we’ll capsize,” added her co-skipper Anne-Claire Le Berre. “It adds extra nervous tension and forces us to be even more focused.”

Co-skipper of the capsized Koesio Erwan Le Roux had told race media before the start: “It’s easy to put the foot right down hard on the accelerator, but capsizing is the problem if you push too hard.”

Tanguy Le Turquais, a recent convert from the IMOCA and co-skipper of the capsized Lazare X Hellio had also spoken of the risks before the start, saying: “On board, you realize that you are slowly getting used to it, to increasing the threshold of fear.”

Transat Café L’Or start

The remaining three classes got underway at lunchtime today. They include four giant Ultim trimarans, 18 IMOCAs and 42 Class 40s. The course lengths of the Transat Café L’Or vary to try and have the four classes arrive in Martinique at approximately the same time between 5-7 November.

The Ultims have been set a 6200-mile course that takes the fastest ocean racing boats in the world into the Southern Hemisphere to a waypoint south of Ascension Island and sees them cross the Doldrums twice.

The Ocean Fifty fleet was set a 4600-mile course, rounding the island of Sal in the Cape Verdes before turning right for Martinique.

The 18 IMOCAs are racing on a 4350-mile track that leaves the Canaries to starboard.

Because of an incoming frontal system with an expected deterioration in weather conditions at theentrance to the Bay of Biscay, the race management team has decided to alter the Class 40 course. The 42 boats will stop in La Coruña (Spain) to seek shelter, and a second start will then be given as soon as conditions permit.

The overall ranking of the Transat Café L’Or Le Havre Normandie in the Class 40 fleet will be calculated based on the combined times of the two legs.

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