For the more distracted, the IMOCA class are the boats that race the Vendee Globe, the top solo professional class in monohulls and briefly those boats will also be the top racing class in monohull crewed racing since the Volvo’s will be IMOCA on the next edition.
I know it was some months back but I was sailing and that does not take the relevance of what happened on the Dhream cup 700 2018, a solo race open to the ones that will be making the Route du Rhum, amateurs and professionals. The race started at Trinité-sur-Mer, went around the Fastnet Rock (near the Irish coast) and came back to France, to Cherbourgh-en-Cotentin.
The 700 is a 736 nautical mile solo race and it is raced simultaneously with the Dhream cup 400 (428nm). On this one the minimum crew are two. Shame on the organization that lost the opportunity to make of the 400 a great amateur short crew event. I understand that the British channel is a difficult and dangerous place to sail solo, unless one is a professional, but why not make this an exclusively two crew race for amateurs?
Anyway the big news is that for the first time in solo racing history two women dominated and got the 1st and 2nd places on a IMOCA solo race beating all the men (10). That’s true that most of the best sailors and the best boats were not racing but they have beaten Yann Elies (3rd) and he is one of the best solo racers.
Congratulations to them, to the winner Sam Davies and to Isabelle Joshke, who arrived very close, 13 minutes after. The third, Yann Ellies lost almost one hour to Sam Davies.
The race had the beginning and the finish in very light conditions but went tough between the Fastnet and Land’s End. If you think that they were not fast think again, there were five multi 50 racing and they are normally faster than the IMOCA but on this occasion only two of them managed to be faster than Sam, the fastest of them arrived just less than half an hour before.
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