The IMOCA Globe Series season kicks off on Sunday with the start of the solo 1000 Race from France's Port-La-Forêt. Seven skippers are set to take on a demanding 1000-nautical-mile course, that includes the Fastnet Lighthouse and two virtual waypoints in the Bay of Biscay.
After six months of refit work, preparation, and fine-tuning, this first offshore showdown marks a return to solo racing for the IMOCA fleet for the first time since the 2024–2025 Vendée Globe. It also signals the beginning of a new competitive cycle, following a 2025 season largely dedicated to double-handed and crewed events.
For 2024-25 Vendée Globe competitors Sam Goodchild, Violette Dorange, and Arnaud Boissières, the return to competition and to solo racing comes aboard boats that they are still getting to know.
Goodchild now helms Macif Santé Prévoyance, launched in 2023 and winner of the last Vendée Globe with Charlie Dalin.
Dorange, who finished 20th in the Vendée Globe, steps up to a new level, moving from a daggerboard IMOCA to a foiling boat. She succeeds Samantha Davies aboard the red IMOCA racing under the Initiatives Cœur colours.
Boissières, meanwhile, begins a new chapter. After competing in the last Vendée Globe aboard a 2010 VPLP-Verdier design, he has acquired Benjamin Dutreux’s 2015 IMOCA. Now racing under the April Marine banner, he is seeking a commercial partner for the season.
The 2026 1000 Race also offers several skippers the chance to tackle their first solo IMOCA race, in a relatively short format and on familiar waters.
Corentin Horeau, already an accomplished solo sailor with a victory in the 2023 Solitaire du Figaro, takes a significant step forward as he transitions to the IMOCA MACSF (formerly Yoann Richomme’s Paprec Arkéa).
A similar challenge awaits Nicolas d’Estais, a seasoned Class40 solo racer, who begins his IMOCA career alone aboard Café Joyeux.
Francesca Clapcich (ITA/USA) is more accustomed to crewed racing – particularly in The Ocean Race, – but will make her solo debut this Sunday aboard 11th Hour Racing (formerly Boris Herrmann's Team Malizia)
Élodie Bonafous, based in Port-La-Forêt for the past five years, knows these waters well. But Sunday will mark her first time racing solo at the helm of her IMOCA – an important milestone ahead of her major goals for the season, which include this autumn's Route du Rhum solo transatlantic race.
Entry list
Arnaud Boissières - April Marine - Recherche co-partenaires
Élodie Bonafous - Association Petits Princes – Quéguiner
Francesca Clapcich - 11th Hour Racing
Violette Dorange - Initiatives Cœur
Nicolas d’Estais - Café Joyeux
Sam Goodchild - MACIF Santé Prévoyance
Corentin Horeau - MACSF
Sébastien Schneiter’s Explora Journeys Swiss SailGP team has not got off to a stellar start in Season 6. Four events in, they're at the bottom of the season leaderboard with just a single point to show for their efforts. I checked in with Schneiter to find out how they plan to turn things around.
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