The IMOCA fleet in the Fastnet Race 2023 includes new launches, relaunched refits and a plethora or talent all hoping to impress. Here’s our pick of the IMOCA boats to watch The IMOCA fleet start for the 2021 Fastnet RaceThe famous Rolex Fastnet Race always provides an intriguing line up of amateur and professional teams all looking for race glory as they battle the 629nm course from Cowes, round the Fastnet Rock and back to the (new in 2021) finish in Cherbourg.
\nBut there are consequences to the Fastnet Race beyond merely the spoils for the winners and this year will once again see a large fleet of IMOCA 60s taking to the startline.
\nFor the 29 IMOCA 60s, though victory is a significant goal, it is not purely a question of who will win the Fastnet as the aims of the teams go some way beyond the Fastnet Race itself with many gearing up for the Transat Jacques Vabre later this year and, more crucially, the Vende\u00e9 Globe in 2024.
\nWith around 18 months to go until the Vende\u00e9 Globe 2024, there will be a number of recently launched IMOCA 60s on the startline for this Fastnet Race as well as several boats that are fresh from significant refits.
\nIn short, the IMOCA 60 Fastnet fleet is absolutely stacked with top-end talent and fascinating new boats, so much so, it can be difficult to know where to look. Here, we\u2019ve picked out just a few of the competitors that fans will want to keep an eye on.
\nNew and revamped IMOCA 60 Fastnet fleet
\nWith the Vend\u00e9e running on a 4-year cycle, those with the backing to do so will typically have only recently launched the boats that they hope will take them to round the world victory in 2024.
\nAs such the Fastnet Race in 2023 represents the first time we will see a number of the new IMOCA 60 launches for the next Vend\u00e9e competing against one another \u2013 though it must be noted there are still a significant number yet to be launched.
\nA new IMOCA 60 is a significant undertaking with 10,000s man hours involved in the design and build of these technologically advanced semi-foiling machines. But just getting one on the water is only half the battle with sailors needing to understand the performance of their new boats and start to build a better picture of the best moding of the boars in certain conditions and wind angles.
\nMuch of this can be modelled on computers these days but there is still nothing like real-world testing to validate ideas. The challenge is also similar for any older boats which have been undergoing refits.
\nAll this is to say that it may not be the very latest boats leading the field in this Fastnet Race, but it does give the fans a good chance to, at least, start to assess the potential of the boats at this early stage \u2013 even if that potential might only be seen in fits and bursts.
\nWho to watch in the Fastnet Race IMOCA 60 fleet
\nPhoto: Maxime Horlaville \/ disobey \/ Macif
\nCharlie Dalin and Pascal Bid\u00e9gorry \u2013 MACIF Sant\u00e9 Pr\u00e9voyance
\nCharlie Dalin has been the standout star in the IMOCA fleet in recent years. He was the winner of the last Vend\u00e9e Globe on the water \u2013 but came home second after Yannick Bestaven was awarded redress for the time he lost assisting in the rescue of Kevin Escoffier earlier in the race.
\nDalin has been something of a dominant force in his Apivia IMOCA 60 winning almost everything he has entered. However, he came home second in the Route du Rhum 2022 being beaten by a few hours by Thomas Ruyant.
\nThe 2023 Fastnet race will be the first proper outing for Dalin in his newly launched IMOCA 60 MACIF Sant\u00e9 Pr\u00e9voyance. Dalin and his team have spoken about this new boat as an evolution of the previous one with refining overall performance.
\nAs is the case with many of the more recent IMOCA 60s a lot of thought has gone into sailor comfort too, with a fully enclosed and more centrally located cockpit.
\nDalin is undoubtedly a quick sailor and his new boat should be quick \u2013 Apivia was widely regarded as the quickest and best set up in the fleet \u2013 but the boat was only launched at the tail end of last month, so the team will be focussed on getting the new boat up to speed.
\n\u201cTo be at the start of a competition just four weeks after the end of construction is quite some feat,\u201d say Dalin. \u201cThe team has done and continues to do a fantastic job to make that possible. The four or five sea trials we\u2019ve done so far have been very encouraging, but naturally we\u2019re yet to fulfil the boat\u2019s true potential.\u201d
\nPhoto: IMOCA \/ TR Racing
\nThomas Ruyant and Morgan Lagravi\u00e8re \u2013 For People
\nSuch has been the close competition between Dalin and Thomas Ruyant over the last few years in the IMOCA fleet it almost seems unfair to refer to the former as the stand-out star. But, while Ruyant has pushed Dalin all the way and beat him in the recent Route du Rhum, Dalin has won more often than not.
\nRuyant suffered foil damage in the last Vend\u00e9e Globe sailing his LinkedOut IMOCA 60 but sailed an impressive race thereafter to come home in sixth overall despite the damage.
\nRuyant has also launched a new boat this year, though unlike Dalin he has had the opportunity to complete a race already, the Guyader Bermudes 1000 Race, which he won alongside co-skipper Morgan Lagravi\u00e8re, an impressive performance from a brand new launch.
\nRuyant\u2019s new boat is something of a change from his previous \u2013 very quick \u2013 LinkedOut with the Frenchman turning to a new design team in Antoine Koch and Finot-Conq to deliver the new hull.
\nThough the fashion for recent launches in the IMOCA class has been towards scow-style bows, his latest boat does not quite follow that tradition and though there is plenty of bow volume much of it is carried above a dramatic, sharp chine running the length of the hull.
\nCertainly the boat performed well in it\u2019s first outing but where Ruyant has really been making headlines of late has been in the announcement of the fist ever fully integrated two-boat, two-skipper outfit in the IMOCA fleet, TR Racing, with the talented Brit, Sam Goodchild taking on the skipper duties of the old boat, now named For the Planet.
\nWith the backing of Advens and Leyton this two-boat team is currently creating its own dedicated state-of-the-art team base at Lorient, where up to 30 people will be employed for the next three seasons. It is certainly set to be a potent combination.
\nPhoto: Eloi Stichelbaut \u2013 polaRYSE \/ Charal
\nJ\u00e9r\u00e9mie Beyou and Franck Cammas \u2013 Charal
\nA devastating start to the last Vend\u00e9e Globe saw Beyou \u2013 widely considered one of the favourites to win the race \u2013 taking significant damage, forcing him to return and repair his boat before setting off again, essentially dashing his Vend\u00e9e hopes within days of the start.
\nIt is to Beyou\u2019s credit that he returned to complete the race when victory was clearly out of sight and he achieved a remarkable comeback to finish in 13th position overall.
\nBut Beyou is not a man here to merely compete in the Vend\u00e9e Globe, he wants to win it and 2024 will mark his fifth attempt to do just that. Having secured an early commitment from his sponsors Charal to go again Beyou\u2019s new Charal was the first of the latest generation to launch \u2013 as was the case with his previous boat.
\nThe new Charal has some pretty radical features. She has significant volume in the bow, as with many other IMOCA launches trending towards more scow-like bows. But where she is truly radical is in the rudder assembly, with the twin rudders in an inverted \u2018v\u2019 shape.
\nIn theory this should help with the boat\u2019s stability while foiling. So far the boat in Beyou\u2019s hands has proven to be pretty quick but has not quite shown stunning pace. The boat was pretty new when she was entered into the Route du Rhum race in 2022 and Beyou finished in third place behind Ruyant and Dalin on their older, more worked up boats.
\nDespite a very close battle between himself and Ruyant in the recent Guyader Bermudes 1000 Race Beyou just lost out to Ruyant in his newly launched For People.
\nPhoto: IMOCA \/ TR Racing
\nSam Goodchild and Antoine Koch \u2013 For the Planet
\nSam Goodchild will certainly be one to watch in the Fastnet Race, he\u2019s one of the two skippers in TR Racing team, alongside Thomas Ruyant. His IMOCA For the Planet is the ex-LinkedOut, on which Ruyant saw a great deal of success, most recently winning the Route du Rhum race in 2022.
\nGoodchild is an impressive and established offshore racer and was one of the favourites in the Multi 50 fleet heading into the Route du Rhum last year. Unfortunately the British sailor suffered a significant injury during the race start and could not compete.
\nAlongside co-skipper \u2013 and co-designer of For People \u2013 Antoine Koch, Goodchild\u2019s first race in his new IMOCA was impressive with a third place in the Guyader Bermudes 1000 Race behind Ruyant and Beyou. But the Brit admits he has plenty to do to get up to speed with the front of the fleet, stating after that race that: \u201cThe new boats are going very, very fast, so it\u2019s a bit scary but it gives us goals,\u201d Goodchild told the IMOCA class in an interview at the end of the race.
\nApivia, the IMOCA upon which Cremer will compete now rebranded under new sponsor L\u2019Occitane en Provence. Photo: Pierre Bouras
\nClarisse Cremer and Alan Roberts \u2013 L\u2019Occitane en Provence
\nThere will be a lot of people looking at Cremer\u2019s performance in the Fastnet Race this year. The first female in the last Vend\u00e9e Globe, Cremer\u2019s sponsor, Banque Populaire dropped the skipper from their plans after she had a baby and went on maternity leave.
\nThe subsequent fall out of that decision and the negative press the French banking giant received saw them pull out of the event entirely.
\nCremer was set to sail Charlie Dalin\u2019s IMOCA 60 Apivia in Banque Populiare colours upon which Dalin had seen so much success for the 2024 Vend\u00e9e Globe once his new boat was launched. But that boat was promptly put back on the market when Banque Populaire pulled out.
\nThe boat was picked up by Alex Thomson Racing, and, with the headline sponsor of L\u2019Occitane en Provence will be sailed by Cremer as she aims to take a spot on the 2024 Vend\u00e9e Globe startline.
\nCremer is a talented sailor and the boat is incredibly fast, so much will be expected of this combination. Cremer has selected experienced Brit, Alan Roberts as her co-skipper for the Fastnet Race \u2013 and he will continue as co-skipper of the boat and sailing coach.
\nGiven this is the first race in the newly launched boat and team, outright victory might be something of a stretch but fans will be watching closely for some signs that this rapid boat in the hands of Cremer could be a potent combination going forward.
\nPhoto: Ronan Gladu \/ Initiatives-C\u0153ur
\nSam Davies and Nicolas Lunven \u2013 Initiatives-C\u0153ur
\nBritish born Sam Davies will arrive at the Fastnet fresh from competing in The Ocean Race as a part of Team Biotherm. Davies will be taking part in her fourth Vend\u00e9e in 2024 and for the first time will be doing so in a brand new boat under her long-time sponsor Initiatives-C\u0153ur.
\nDavies has not seen instant success in the new boat with a disappointing finish in the Route du Rhum and only managing 5th in the the recent Guyader Bermudes 1000 Race \u2013 though it should be noted that took place almost immediately after the completion of the The Ocean Race.
\nHowever, the hugely experienced sailor has a strong history in the Fastnet having finished in the top five in the IMOCA fleet in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021, though she has yet to finish on the podium, something she will look to correct in 2023.
\nPhoto: Lloyd Images \/ Pip Hare Ocean Racing
\nPip Hare and Nick Bubb \u2013 Medallia
\nPip Hare sailed a very impressive Vend\u00e9e Globe in 2021-22 with a boat that was well known to be one of the hardest to sail in the fleet \u2013 with halyards led to the mast base, a block and tackle canting keel system, no foils, and little in the way of cockpit protection.
\nThe Brit\u2019s sponsor, Medallia was convinced to help her find a newer boat for the forthcoming Vend\u00e9e. CEO Leslie Stretch had asked Pip mid-race on the race\u2019s live video show: \u201cWhat\u2019s next Pip? Let\u2019s get to the end and then let\u2019s go shopping for a new boat, shall we??\u201d \u2013 on her return they did just that, buying the fastest boat ever to complete the Vend\u00e9e Globe.
\nLaunched in 2015 as Banque Populaire, the new Medallia comes with an impressive history. It was one of the first generation of yachts that were built specifically to foil, and it won the Vend\u00e9e Globe for Armel Le Cl\u00e9ac\u2019h in 2016, setting an unbroken course record of 74 days.
\nHowever, development has moved on significantly since the boat was launched but Medallia has just undergone a substantial refit with new, bigger foils added requiring significant structural alterations and the bow has been reworked into a more modern, higher volume configuration too.
\nMedallia only recently came out of the shed following her refit, so this year\u2019s Fastnet Race will be the first test of the new upgrades.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re really excited coming into this year\u2019s Rolex Fastnet Race. It\u2019ll be the first major test for the boat with her new set-up,\u201d says Hare. \u201cIt\u2019s a giant leap forward in terms of performance, but we also need to adapt to these changes with regards trimming and handling and then refine the new polars.\u201d
\nSee the full list of IMOCA Fastnet entries.\u00a0
\nCheck out all our Rolex Fastnet Race 2023 coverage.<\/p>\n
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The IMOCA fleet in the Fastnet Race 2023 includes new launches, relaunched refits and a plethora or talent all hoping to impress. Here’s our pick of the IMOCA boats to watch The IMOCA fleet start for the 2021 Fastnet RaceThe … <\/p>\n