Ready for the Transat Café l’OR? Start on October 26!
Next Sunday, eighteen double-handed crews will depart from Le Havre to embark on the Transat Café l’OR, a storied transatlantic race that has traced this oceanic course since 1993.
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| Baptismal name | Imagine |
|---|---|
| Architect | VPLP - Verdier |
| Construction | 2007, Indiana Yachting, Italie |
| Launch date | 9/5/07 |
| Former names | Groupe BEL, IMAGINE, For Humble Heroes, Le Souffle du Nord, Kilcullen Team Irlande, V and B - Mayenne, MAIL BOXES ETC., MS AMLIN |
| Skippers | Conrad COLMAN , Mathieu BLANCHARD |
|---|
In 2007, Groupe Bel was one of the first two VPLP-Verdier designs and she would go on to revolutionise IMOCA racing for several years. Though the hull and her distinctive chine that spreads over her entire length are the same as that on Safran, she is equipped with a wing mast and twin steering wheels and was built by the Indiana Yachting yard in Italy.

| Length | 18,28 m |
|---|---|
| Beam | 5,5 m |
| Draught | 4,5 m |
| Weight | 8 tonnes |
| Mast height | 29 m |
| Mast type | Wing mast |
| Foils | No |
| Sail area max. | |
| Upwind | 365 m2 |
| Downwind | 700 m2 |
Next Sunday, eighteen double-handed crews will depart from Le Havre to embark on the Transat Café l’OR, a storied transatlantic race that has traced this oceanic course since 1993.
•••The Transat Café L’OR from Le Havre to Martinique, which forms the finale of the 2025 IMOCA season, is now just 12 days away and it’s a classic course that has attracted a stellar field.
•••It’s the story of an unprecedented partnership—an exchange of knowledge between a seasoned skipper and a top-level ultra-trail runner—that will come to life during the 2025 Transat Café L’OR. Mathieu Blanchard, a profess…
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