In Cherbourg
Caught up by the Covid-19, François Gabart does not finally take the start of the Drheam Cup given this Sunday afternoon from the large artificial harbor of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin (Manche).
Tested positive the day before, it is Tom Laperche who replaces him as skipper aboard his SVR-Larazatigue (only Ultim at the start), whose participation in the Route du Rhum is still suspended pending the decision next Thursday Administrative Court of Paris whether or not to approve his boat there.
It is therefore without the French skipper, who smashed the solo round the world record in 2017, that the starting signal for the Dhream Cup will be given this Sunday from 2 p.m. off the Marina Chantereyne, where the village of the race had been erected for four days of festivities around the pontoons.
Qualifier for the Route du Rhum
For this 4th edition, nearly 350 amateur and professional competitors, solo or in crews, will set off on the always dreaded crossing of the English Channel from the sunny harbor of Cherbourg.
Depending on the class of sailboat, three courses - one of 600 and two of 1000 miles - were marked out between English waters, the Isle of Man on the Irish side, even passing by the Spanish coast for certain classes, before an arrival scheduled for the first boats from Wednesday at La Trinité-sur-Mer (Morbihan).
Qualifying race for solo sailors for the Route du Rhum scheduled for November, nine classes, monohulls or multihulls, are at the start: Figaro 3 Bénéteau, Class40, Multi 2000, IRC and double IRC, Imoca, Rhum Mono and Multi, Ocean Fifty, Ultimate.
Created in 2016 by Jacques Civilise, member of the Yacht Club de France, the Dhream Cup, which takes place every two years - on even years - had only about forty competitors at the start when it was created.
Today, the "Dream" is on the way to becoming an unmissable event in the sailing family.
The local authorities of the Cotentin - city, town, department and region - support the event in particular to consolidate and associate the status of Cherbourg as being henceforth "
a city of departure for offshore races
".
A bit like Les Sables-d'Olonne with the Vendée Globe or Saint-Malo and the Route du Rhum...
Among the skippers to follow for this 4th edition, defending champion Ian Lipinski says he is "
determined
" to keep his Class40 title, mail will have to face Yoann Richomme (Paprec Arkéa) who twice won the Solitaire du Figaro in 2016 and 2019 or the former Olympic champion Jean Galfione (Serenis Consulting), who admits "
putting himself in Route du Rhum configuration
".
Note Marie Tabarly aboard Pen Duick VI with 12 crew members.
And of course, sailor Catherine Chabaud, who is setting off again alone, twenty years after her last Vendée Globe, aboard her famous 60-foot monohull.
“
I missed the sea and solo racing
“, Said this weekend the navigator, who has been sitting in the hemicycle of the European Parliament since 2019 and defends the oceans there.