Delayed Brazil race sets sail
Transat Jacques Vabre leaves Le Havre after four days of waiting
FORTY-four competitors in the 2014 Transat Jacques Vabre are due to set off this afternoon after four days of waiting for conditions to clear.
The two-handed race sees single and multi-hull yachts sailing from Le Havre to Itajai in Brazil – a journey of 10,000km.
The race is likely to take 15 days, but poor weather could still force 30 smaller boats to seek shelter around Brittany in just a few days’ time.
Organisers are discussing the option of a mandatory “weather pause” to be factored into the race, a decision that has not passed uncommented, according to France Info.
Skipper Yann Eliès said it represented “a change in society which removed responsibility from racers to set out to sea”.
The director of sport for the Transat, Manfred Ramspacher said: “It’s something we would doubtless not have done 25 years ago on such a long race.”
However, most sailors, many of whom are amateurs, appear to agree with the decision.
Sailor Damien Rousseau said: “I haven’t spent two years of my life preparing for this race to break my yacht at the end of the first day.”
To follow the race visit www.transat-jacques-vabre.com
Photo: www.transat-jacques-vabre.com
