On Sunday, October 26, at 2pm local time the 72 boats registered for the 17th edition of the TRANSAT CAFÉ L’OR Le Havre Normandie will set sail on the most famous double-handed transatlantic race.

Every 15 minutes each successive class will line up pointing their bows towards Martinique where they should arrive at around November 6. Here’s an update on the entries and race details just a few weeks before this major event.

What to remember:

72 boats and 144 skippers: 18 women, 14 different nationalities, 50 rookies*

• Start: October 26 from Le Havre:
  2:00 p.m. for the ULTIMs
  2:15 p.m. for the Ocean Fiftys
  2:30 p.m. for the IMOCAs
  2:45 p.m. for the Class40sETA in Martinique: around November 6 for all classes

  *Number of registered sailors as of September 19, registration closes on September 30 at the discretion of the race director.

  In just under a month, the TRANSAT CAFÉ L’OR will muster a fleet of 72 duos in Le Havre: 4 ULTIMs, 10 Ocean Fiftys, 18 IMOCAs, and 40 Class40s. This 17th Route du Café, a must-see ocean racing spectacle is the highlight of the 2025 racing season.

 

144 skippers in the racing, women are gaining ground on the Atlantic

This year, 2025, the famous race will feature 144 skippers, including 18 women, crossing the symbolic 10% mark for the first time. With five all-female crews and eight mixed duos, this represents a positive move forwards, the route to parity is still long, but the feminization of ocean racing is under way, and the TRANSAT CAFÉ L’OR continues to be a standard bearer for this impetus thanks to the third edition of its Cap pour Elles grant, which this year supports the duo Aina Bauza and Axelle Pillain, in partnership with ENGIE.

Four starts and four race courses for a close finish

On Sunday, October 26, the competitors will leave the pontoons of the Eure and Paul Vatine basins in turn, heading out to cross the starting line at 2:00 p.m. local time for the ULTIMs, followed by the Ocean Fifty, the IMOCAs, and the Class40s, with a 15-minute interval between each class.

 

 

Thanks to the four different courses, the majority of the fleet should converge on the coast of Martinique starting on November 6 (ETA of the first). Remember that on this race there will not be a single winner but rather four winning duos, one in each class.

Courses ideal for battle

After a high-intensity season, both in monohulls and multihulls, revenge is in the air for this final competition of the season. Each class will follow a different course, meaning there are four races to be followed simultaneously. Strategies and gambles will undoubtedly fuel this TRANSAT CAFÉ L’OR, with a fleet battling all the way to the bay of Fort-de-France where everything can be decided in the final minutes, as the 2023 edition proved.

Recap of the courses

• ULTIMS: 6,200 nautical miles, leaving Ascension Island (a moving waypoint) to starboard.
• Ocean Fifty: 4,600 nautical miles, leaving the island of Sal (Cape Verde) on the starboard side
• IMOCA: 4,350 nautical miles, leaving the Canary Islands on the starboard side
• Class 40: 3,750 nautical miles, leaving the Azores on the starboard side

At the end of the race, one of the 72 crews will also be awarded the Commitment Prize. It will recognize the most virtuous duo in the race as well as their innovative projects for the planet. This award will be presented by a jury composed of the two sponsors of the race, astronaut Claudie Haigneré and explorer Matthieu Tordeur, the management of the French Sailing Federation, and sailing personalities.

Quotes

Gildas Gautier, Co-General Director of the TRANSAT CAFÉ L’OR Le Havre Normandie: “The Transat Café L’Or once again brings together an extraordinary field to the coffee routes between Le Havre and Martinique: 4 classes, 4 starts, 4 courses for a fair, strategically interesting, and sportingly committed competition.”

Francis Le Goff, Race Director of the TRANSAT CAFÉ L’OR Le Havre Normandie: “The length of the courses, the trajectory, and the choice of islands to be sailed around are designed to ensure a tight finish, so that each winning pair benefits from the same celebration and media exposure. For the ULTIMs, the only class sailing in the southern hemisphere, we reserve the right to adapt the Ascension waypoint depending on the weather conditions and their double passage through the Doldrums.”

by Transat Café L’OR