La Transat Ag2r La Mondiale

The bi-annual one-design two-handed race from Concarneau in mainland France to St Barth is starting soon...

I would post a photo, but the island’s internet won’t allow it this morning - too slow.

http://transat.ag2rlamondiale.fr/



Link to the SBHOnline Transat Ag2r La Mondiale contest rules. The contest will open for entries when the lead bots is about 1000 nautical mikes from the finish:

https://www.sbhonline.com/forums/showthread.php/93343-Contest-La-Transat-Ag2r-La-Mondiale

KevinS said:

The bi-annual one-design two-handed race from Concarneau in mainland France to St Barth is starting soon...

I would post a photo, but the island’s internet won’t allow it this morning - too slow.

http://transat.ag2rlamondiale.fr/

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Can we get a boat name list posted and try to pick the winner? A past forum fun thing to get involved in for this year's race.

The last prize was a piece of wood. Look on Kevin's link for names of boats

amyb said:

Can we get a boat name list posted and try to pick the winner? A past forum fun thing to get involved in for this year's race.

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Working on it. We’ll do something.

andynap said:

The last prize was a piece of wood. Look on Kevin's link for names of boats

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and second prize (which I happily won) was a nice beach bag from Wimco with some goodies including a bottle of vanilla rum from La Gloriette....

I was happy to win one year and the prize was dinner at the Hideaway!

Local sailor, Miguel Danet, who some of you might know from his St Barth Sailor catamarans, is racing this year, I think it's his third time in this event. His teammate is Eric Peron, a French sailor he partnered with 10 years ago. and their sponsor is a French macaron company so their boat is rather jauntily decorated...

I once won-a tee shirt, purple, with the logo of the boat. Something about THE RICH??

elgreaux said:

Local sailor, Miguel Danet, who some of you might know from his St Barth Sailor catamarans, is racing this year, I think it's his third time in this event. His teammate is Eric Peron, a French sailor he partnered with 10 years ago. and their sponsor is a French macaron company so their boat is rather jauntily decorated...

View attachment 46144

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Miguel has local support. These kids from the St Barth Yacht Club are in France for a regatta. I swiped these photos from the SBYC FB page:

20 boats are participating:





Many of the team sponsor names are familiar to those who have followed previous editions of the race.

Having good friends in France with the name ROYER, I am going with that boat.go GROUPE ROYER.

Great job posting the boats and the photos. Kevin rocks! Take a bow, a deep bow.

And then there were 19... one entrant had to drop out of the race a few days ago for medical reasons. The Livory brothers and Interaction will not be racing.

That is a shame. Hope all goes well and wishing him a speedy recovery.

Well done, Kevin!

Arrival of the boats in St. Barths always is a great celebration . . . running 24 hrs/day during the several days that it takes for all boats to arrive. A lot of fun!

So great to be talking about something besides that which shall remain nameless that starts with an 'I"

Approximately, when are they expected to arrive in Gustavia?

3 weeks, give or take a few days. In 2016 Gedimat crossed the Finish Line at 08:14:53 St Barth time, after racing for 22 Days, 1 Hour, 6 Minutes, and 53 Seconds.

Start was, I believe, yesterday. So I would expect that the finish will be about May 13 (give or take). As I recall, there was a lot of bad luck with winds two years ago, & the starting pack broke into two groups . . . taking northerly & southern routes, trying to capture best of them.

The image is quite stunning: Two people, sailing in difficult seas, in small boats . . . 24 hrs/day, important to maintain nighttime awareness . . . highly competitive with other sailors . . . emotional & physical fatigue . . . sunburn . . . the food can’t be very good . . . storms . . . sailing nearby to many other boats at times, seeing other boats surge ahead & falling behind . . . occasional broken masts . . . periods of windless boredom (what can you say to one another?). Then, finally, the mental rush that must come with arriving — after 3 or more weeks — to the greeting of a flotilla of welcoming boats from a beautiful Caribbean island — loud air horns blaring . . . overflowing with yelling, cheering, appreciative fellow sailors . . . Rosemond snapping photos . . . champagne bottles aloft, corks flying. Big smiles, loud laughs, & emotional embraces . . . for each boat, whether 1st or last, whatever hour.

It was early 90s, as I recall, that I first found myself on the island for the May arrival of boats in the “Transat” race. It’s thrilling to see that it has morphed into a tradition. If you’re on the island as boats arrive (I will be!), don’t miss the celebrations . . . try especially to be part of the vanguard of late night / early morning revelers. You’ll never forget it.