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IMOCA Ocean Racing World Championship

Yann Elies and Generali team take the lead of the IMOCA Ocean Racing World Championship

  French sailor Yann Elies has taken the lead of the IMOCA ocean racing world championship after the first solo transatlantic race of the year : The Artemis Transat (yearly ranking is based on previous and current year’s results). Team Generali has seen its continuous efforts bring some well deserved results, as they never abandoned any race since 2007.

Yann Elies: "I am really happy to be leading the championship after  The Artemis Transat. This position confirms the whole team worked really hard to make the boat what it is today and we managed to finish every race we entered. As a consequence we are having good results on the water. I am statisfied for my team and my sponsor Generali. Obviously it gives us confidence for the Vendée Globe, although there is still some work to be done before the start of the race”.

Second place of the IMOCA championship goes to Marc Guillemot onboard his « Safran ». Guillemot has had good results since his boat was launched in July 2007. He came 4th at The Artemis Transat after having sustained some serious rib injury on the first days of the race. Third place goes to the winner of this “Transat Anglaise”: Loïck Peyron. Peyron wins this race for the third time, beating the record holder, French sailing legend Eric Tabarly. The first woman, English Samantha Davies (Roxy) is 8th. There are 4 different nationalities within the top eleven (Fra, UK, Sui, Spa).

Two « exhibition races » are still on the program for the IMOCA fleet this summer:
- “Voiles de course” during the maritime event of Brest 2008 from 11th to 17th July where more than 100,000 people per day are expected.
- The Artemis Challenge in Cowes, Isle of Wight on the 5th August 2008.

The boats will then prepare for the biggest event of the IMOCA Ocean Racing World Championship: the non-stop, solo, round the world race: The Vendée Globe. 30 boats will be expected on the starting line in les Sables d’Olonne, France, on November 9th for what is already defined as the biggest planetary yacht race ever!