The Imoca are 60-foot Open monohull yachts mainly intended to race in the Vendée Globe. Find here the latest news and investigations from Tip & Shaft on the subject.
After a transitional 2025, the Imoca class welcomes new skippers and boats in 2026 and opens a solo racing cycle, the highlight of which will be the Route du Rhum–Destination Guadeloupe. The programme also includes a crewed segment with The Ocean Race Atlantic, between New York and Lorient. In a difficult economic climate that is making sponsorship harder to secure, the fleets are expected to be uneven.
After four years on the Figaro circuit, Philippe Hartz has set himself the goal of taking the start of the 2028 Vendée Globe. The 42-year-old former navy commando, who is competing in the Trophée Laura Vergne this weekend with Adrien Hardy, has designed a project named Esprit Défense, which he details for Sailorz.
The DMG Mori Sailing Team announced this week the arrival of Sam Davies and Nicolas Lunven alongside Kojiro Shiraishi, with The Ocean Race Atlantic next summer and The Ocean Race in January 2027 in their sights. This is an opportunity for Sailorz to learn more about the Japanese Imoca project.
A partner of Arnaud Boissières in the Imoca class since 2015, La Mie Câline, a Vendée-based franchise network (€200 million in turnover, 235 stores nationwide, employing approximately 2,500 people), has announced “the end of this chapter”. Its CEO, David Giraudeau, explains the move to Sailorz.
Unsurprisingly, Violette Dorange has been confirmed at the helm of the Imoca Initiatives Cœur until the next Vendée Globe; she succeeds Sam Davies, who remains with the team as a coach. Sailorz looks back at this announcement with Franck Vallée, President of Initiatives, co-partner of the project with K-Line.
Started in 2020, the Class40 partnership between Crosscall and Aurélien Ducroz comes to an end this year. The 43-year-old sailor/mountaineer is now focused on a new goal, combining the Vendée Globe 2028 and the ascent of 82 peaks over 4,000 meters in the Alps. He explains it all for Sailorz.
Behind the untouchable duo Jérémie Beyou/Morgan Lagravière (Charal), Francesca Clapcich and Will Harris (11th Hour Racing, ex Malizia) took second place in the Imoca division of the Transat Café L’Or on Friday, November 7. An opportunity for Sailorz to speak with the British sailor, who, at 31, does not hide his Vendée Globe ambitions.
On Thursday, October 23, three days before the start of the Transat Café L’Or, Benjamin Dutreux unveiled the broad outlines of his new Imoca project, with a new boat, a Koch design built at Multiplast in the molds of the future Paprec, and a title partner, the 4CAD group.
74 duos will start the Transat Café L’Or on Sunday from 2 p.m. As before every major race, Sailorz has gathered a panel of experts to discuss the contenders. After the Ocean Fifty and Class 40 last week, the focus is on the Imoca and Ultim classes with Imoca skippers Paul Meilhat, Sébastien Simon, and Nicolas Lunven, Charles Caudrelier, who is awaiting his next Gitana 18 in December, the race director of the 24h Ultim, Christophe Gaumont, and the director of the Finistère offshore racing hub, Jeanne Grégoire.
The leaders of Macif unveiled the outlines of their new Imoca campaign 2027-2030 in Paris on Monday, with a new Verdier design that will be skippered by Sam Goodchild and the integration of Charlotte Yven into the team. For his part, Charlie Dalin, while waiting to find out if he will be able to sail in 2026, takes on a consultant/advisor role. Sailorz tells you more.
Having served as the doctor for the Finistère offshore racing training centre in Port-la-Forêt for 17 years (until last April), and also for the last edition of the Vendée Globe, Laure Jacolot speaks to Sailorz about the announcement by Charlie Dalin of the illness (gastrointestinal cancer) he has been suffering from for two years, which he also discusses in a book released on Thursday, La force du destin (The Strength of Destiny, Gallimard).
On 30 September, Bureau Vallée announced the end of its sporting partnership in April 2026 with Louis Burton, initiated in 2010. Since the last Vendée Globe 2024-2025, other sponsors have done the same. Is this a direct consequence of the current economic climate or a return to normal after euphoric years? Sailorz investigated.
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