Since the withdrawal last September of its historic sponsor AG2R, the future of the double-handed Transat in Figaro was uncertain.
The race, created in 1992 and organized every two years, will finally last since a new edition will take place from 2021, under the name of Transat in double Concarneau-Saint-Barthélémy.
The start will be given on May 9th.
The organizer, OC Sport Pen Duick, had initially planned to wait until 2022 to possibly launch the Figaro 3, foiling monohulls put on the circuit in 2019, on their first transatlantic.
They ultimately chose to move the schedule forward.
Recall that the 2020 edition had been canceled due to Covid-19.
A first since 1992. Always in search of a main sponsor, the organizers were able to count on the support of communities, in Brittany and the West Indies, and on its partners to set up the project.
16 duets registered
“The crossing of the Atlantic in Figaro 3 is a first, and in May it's unprecedented.
It is essential to keep this offshore racing DNA within the Figaro Bénéteau class.
For these reasons, with Yann Eliès, we are eager to be at the start of the Double Transat, we have a solid and complementary crew, so we are clearly going there to win it ”, rejoices Martin Le Pape who, with Yann Eliès, one of the 16 teams already registered for this race.
There is also enthusiasm for Tom Laperche, 22 years old and 3rd in the last Solitaire but never set off to attack the Atlantic in Figaro: "I really want to participate in this double-handed Transat because it's a radically different format from the ones I've raced over the past two years.
And then, it will allow me to prepare for my future, to move on to larger media.
The “adventure” side of such a long journey is also attractive, but what I like the most is the aspect of real human adventure.
Even before the result, spending 20 days together with Loïs Berrehar will allow us to create beautiful memories, and for me that's the main thing. "
This oceanic crossing on equal terms, won in 2018 by Adrien Hardy and Thomas Rettant, 6th in the last Vendée Globe, will be played non-stop on a course strictly identical to previous years, starting from Concarneau, via a waypoint to be respected in the nearby Canaries. from Las Palmas, before heading for the West Indies.
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