The Transat CIC 2024 will race from Lorient to New York
“ One man, one boat, the ocean”
21.07.2023
The course for the 2024 edition of The Transat CIC has been published. The start of the 15th edition of the race will be on April 28 2024 and the 3000 miles course and will link Lorient, Brittany to New York. OC Sport Pen Duick who have run the solo ocean race since 2012, have now officially published the Notice of Race detailing the rules for participation in the event.
One man, one boat, the ocean
From Sir Francis Chichester to François Gabart via Eric Tabarly, Alain Colas, Philippe Poupon, Michel Desjoyeaux, Loïck Peyron and Francis Joyon, some of the greatest sailors are past winners of The Transat CIC.
The 2024 edition will mark the 60th anniversary of Éric Tabarly’s win aboard Pen-Duick II, a key moment in the early history of solo French ocean racing. Tabarly won again in 1976, on Pen-Duick VI whilst Loïck Peyron, who won it in 1992, 1996 and 2008, holds the record for the number of victories.
A demanding course on the North Atlantic
The course on the North Atlantic solo against prevailing currents and winds between the European continent and North America is a very demanding one. Nothing has changed in the fundamental, basic challenge of the The Transat CIC since its creation in 1960, even if the mother of all singlehanded ocean races has changed start and finish ports several times.
The start from Plymouth meant the race was known in France as the “English Transat”. Variously the finishes have been in several North American cities: New York, Newport and Boston.
For the 2024 edition, OC Sport Pen Duick with the support of the CIC, Title Partner and major player in the event, the Brittany Region and Lorient Agglomeration, the two Main Partners, collaborate to offer an unprecedented route between two emblematic maritime cities.
Committed for two editions, Lorient will host the start of the 2024 and 2028 editions. An obvious choice for OC Sport Pen Duick as the City, its economic fabric and the Brittany Region have been focused on ocean racing and innovation for many years.
New York, ideally located on the northeast coast of the United States, will welcome the finish of The Transat CIC for the third time, after 1960 and 2016.
“The Transat CIC is an historic race. It is the only transatlantic starting from France to have such a northerly course. It is also the most complicated because at the end of April – beginning of May, there can be quite difficult upwind conditions. This solo race can be challenging and tough, with conditions similar to those that sailors may encounter in the Vendée Globe. It is interesting to reconnect, after the Covid-19 years, with a course quite similar to its original course, which is not done downwind like the Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe or the Transat Jacques Vabre – Normandy Le Havre”, comments Francis Le Goff, Race Director of The Transat CIC, who highlights that there will be no course mark between Lorient and New York.
“It is a fast race, even more of a sprint than the other races. an IMOCA can take around nine days to complete the course”, he specifies. The finish line will close on May 19, 2024 at 11:02 UTC.
The Notice of Race unveiled, a beautiful field in perspective
The Transat CIC will be open to IMOCA, Class40 and Ocean Fifty Classes as well as to the Vintage monohull and multihull and sailing-cargo categories. This last exhibition category of cargo sailboats will be unofficial because these boats cannot be sailed alone.
“As part of its CSR policy and in its desire to favor exceptional boats and sailors who have helped write the history of ocean racing, OC Sport Pen Duick has decided to create the Vintage Mono and Multi categories and exhibition Cargos-Sailboats “, says Francis Le Goff.
The number of competitors is limited to 80 boats, including 25 Class40, 35 IMOCA, 10 Ocean Fifty and 10 Vintage sailboats. The registration deadline is January 31, 2024.
The Notice of Race details the rules for participation in The Transat CIC, and in particular the qualification procedures.
“To be automatically qualified, sailors must have completed the Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe 2022 or the 2023 Return to Base race, which concerns the majority of the fleet”, specifies Francis Le Goff. “The others will have to complete a solo qualification course of at least 1,200 nautical miles before March 28, 2024, or a solo race of at least 500 miles plus an additional qualification course to reach 1,400 nautical miles in race configuration. Note that on The Transat CIC, all navigational aid systems, including routing, will be authorized except for Classes which prohibit it. One or more technical stopover(s) will be authorized after agreement from the Race Direction on the stopping place and the repairs to be made, and possibly on the equipment to be changed.”
The Sailing Instructions (SIs) will be sent to the skippers no later than April 5, 2024 and posted on The Transat CIC website in the skippers area.
They said :
Hervé Favre, President of OC Sport Pen Duick:
“OC Sport Pen Duick, owner and organizer of the race with the support of the CIC, its Title Partner, is delighted with the return of The Transat CIC next spring. This historic and unique race alters course from 2024 but will retain its original format and its original concept which still make it a success today. The choice of start and finish towns for the race was obvious. Lorient Agglomeration and the Brittany Region, Main Partners of the race, will host the start of the 2024 and 2028 editions of The Transat CIC, which will return to its historic arrival port: New York. We are happy to be able to count on the support of our partners to make this race a great success both sportingly and popularly. »
Antoine Mermod, President of the IMOCA Class:
“For the IMOCA, The Transat CIC is a very important event in the 2024 season, firstly because it is the first event of the year, but above all because it is a solo race on the North Atlantic. The course, on which the sequences of depressions and weather systems are super fast, is very demanding. This requires a lot of anticipation from the skippers, which is one of the great qualities they must have solo on these boats. In a Vendée Globe year, it is a first scenario that is quite essential. We think we will have a fleet of around 35 boats. The Transat CIC is the penultimate qualifying race before the Vendée Globe so there are a lot of challenges for our skippers”.
Cédric de Kervenoael, President of Class40: “The Transat now The Transat CIC, saw the birth of ocean racing with the great Sir Francis Chichester. Tabarly, Colas, Fauconnier, Poupon, Peyron or Joyon have left their mark on this event, the harshness of which makes it unique and beautiful. To add a victory in The Transat CIC to your record is to achieve a form of transatlantic grail. Many Class40 riders will try in 2024 to succeed Giovanni Soldini and Thibaut Vauchel-Camus, title holders. The Class40 can be proud to have this great offshore race on its calendar, which gives it its letters of nobility and will once again undoubtedly crown its most seasoned competitors. So, thank you to the CIC for supporting this great and beautiful transatlantic, which perpetuates the story of a maritime heritage to which the Class40 belongs. »
