Happy Friday everyone...
In today's newsletter:
- 18 IMOCA pairs set to do battle in the Transat Café l’OR
- Egnot-Johnson surges as Östling shines in Bermuda
- Wild Oats XI reborn with new state-of-the-art underwater appendages package
- Place your vote for the World Sailing Awards 2025
- Balthasar confirmed as overall winner of the 2025 Rolex Middle Sea Race
- Quiz Question...
18 IMOCA pairs set to do battle in the Transat Café l’OR
The final IMOCA race of the 2025 season gets underway from Le Havre for Martinique in the Caribbean on Sunday, and it looks set to be a thriller featuring some of the top boats and sailors in the Class ready to push hard for victory – writes Ed Gorman.
The final IMOCA race of the 2025 season gets underway from Le Havre for Martinique in the Caribbean on Sunday, and it looks set to be a thriller featuring some of the top boats and sailors in the Class ready to push hard for victory.
The Transat Café l’OR forms the finale of a five-race programme for 2025 which has seen 22 boats competing either fully-crewed or double-handed, and with the Class set to be augmented in the coming months with 11 new IMOCAs currently in build.
Having already won two transatlantic races in the IMOCA Class and been second in this race two years ago, the accomplished French skipper Yoann Richomme can rightly claim to be among the favourites for the Transat Café L’OR.
What’s more, Richomme – who is sailing alongside Corentin Horeau – has had a progressive fully-crewed season this year on board Paprec Arkéa, finishing third in the Rolex Fastnet Race and then second in The Ocean Race Europe.
The 42-year-old runner up in the last Vendée Gobe is not afraid to admit that he and Horeau would be a good bet to make it to the top step of the podium in Fort de France in a couple of weeks time.
“I think we’ve got a fairly good chance,” Richomme told the IMOCA Class this week, taking a break from his pre-start preparations. “I think our boat is quite well-suited to strong November conditions – pretty stormy and wavy and a lot of downwind – so it’s pretty much everything we like. So yeah, I give us a reasonable chance.”
But Richomme and Horeau will have their work cut out on the 4,350-nautical mile course that takes the IMOCA fleet out of the Channel, then south of the Canaries before hooking into the Trade Winds that will take them across the Atlantic to the Caribbean...
Egnot-Johnson surges as Östling shines in Bermuda
Defending champion Johnie Berntsson, from Sweden, is the first skipper to book his spot in the semi-finals of the 2025 Bermuda Gold Cup. Berntsson finished unbeaten for the second day running.
Five skippers have a chance to claim the final three spots in the knockout stages in what was a thrilling day of round-robin action on Hamilton Harbour. In the Aspen Bermuda Women’s Match Race Regatta, Sweden’s Anna Östling overcame a penalty to beat Pauline Courtois/FRA and remain at the top of the leaderboard.
It was moving day at the 73rd Bermuda Gold Cup with New Zealand’s Nick Egnot-Johnson and his Knots Racing team thrusting themselves into contention for the semi-finals after posting three wins.
After what by his own admission was a disappointing couple of days, Egnot-Johnson reversed his fortunes with victories over Ian Garreta/FRA, Chris Poole/USA and Peter Wickwire/CAN.
“We had a really tough first couple of days and were really struggling to get used to the boats as we don’t have anything like this back home,” he said. “There has been a lot of calibration over the past few days but today it feels like it finally started to click and we’re now pretty happy with how we’re sailing going into the final day of round robins. We just need to be getting the starts right now.”
While Egnot-Johnson will be sailing for a spot in the semi-finals tomorrow, for one man the pressure is off after another perfect day in Hamilton Harbour. For the second day running, defending Gold Cup champion Johnie Berntsson from Sweden was the only skipper to remain unbeaten, with his nine victories across three days making his crew the first to book their place in the semi-finals with three races to go.
“The first goal at this regatta is to make it to the semi-finals and against such strong opponents you can never be sure how it will go,” he said. “It’s good news for us and we will see if we can try to stay on top of the scorecard.”
Berntsson’s match against French skipper Ian Garreta and his Med Racing team drew the eyes of those watching from shore, with their boats appearing to be stationary for about three minutes as Berntsson attempted to stop his opponent from shedding a penalty.
“We were leading but there were two penalties in the pre-start,” he said. “We took one penalty and got back into the race on the second upwind leg. He needed to take away that penalty and we just tried to stay calm. He didn’t do the move we expected, and we forced the situation to turn into our favour and managed to get away by about ten boat lengths.”
With Berntsson through to the knockout stages, the final day is shaping up to be a thrilling fight for the final three places, as American Poole, Eric Monnin/SUI, Ian Williams/GBR and Garreta all holding hope of advancing to the next round...
Wild Oats XI reborn with new state-of-the-art underwater appendages package
After two decades as skipper of the iconic 100-foot supermaxi Wild Oats XI, Australian sailor Mark Richards will race in this year's Rolex Sydney to Hobart race as the boat's skipper and owner.
Under the new ownership of Richards' company Palm Beach Motor Yachts, the nine-time winner of the Boxing day offshore classic has been reborn as Palm Beach XI and is set to reveal a brand new state-of-the-art appendages package at the upcoming Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show on October 29.
Although only available to view as renders at this stage these extensive upgrades feature a new deeper keel fin and bulb, upwind daggerboards, and C-foils – all engineered to optimize lift, minimize drag.
"I’m deeply grateful to the Oatley family for their amazing support and friendship over the past two and half decades," said Richards. "Together we made Wild Oats XI a benchmark in global ocean racing. It’s an honor to carry that legacy forward under the Palm Beach Motor Yachts name.
Place your vote for the World Sailing Awards 2025
If you haven't done so already then here are our suggestions for who to vote for in the male and female Rolex World Sailor of the Year and the Team of the Year categories.
Rolex Female World Sailor of the Year: Justine Mettraux (SUI) who – amongst many other achievements – finished eighth in the 2024-25 Vendée Globe.
Rolex Male World Sailor of the Year: Charlie Dalin (FRA) who won the 2024-25 Vendée Globe while undergoing treatment for stomach cancer.
Team of the Year: Spanish blind sailor Dani Pich and is Yes We Sail team who this summer completed a lap of the original America's Cup course around Britain's Isle of Wight aboard a rudderless Pati Catala catamaran.
Balthasar confirmed as overall winner of the 2025 Rolex Middle Sea Race
At 1200 CEST yesterday, the overall winner of the 46th edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race was announced as the Mills 72 Balthasar, led by Louis Balcaen.
The Royal Malta Yacht Club has confirmed that none of the remaining yachts still racing is able to better Balthasar’s IRC corrected time. The crew knew they had sailed an exceptional race as soon as they crossed the finish line in Marsamxett Harbour, set against the stunning backdrop of Valletta aglow in Tuesday’s morning sun.
Balthasar’s corrected time set a high bar for those left on the course, a bar that proved too much despite the best efforts of even Django Deer, whose corrected time was just five minutes adrift. The smaller boats would be undone eventually by the sustained period of light winds around Lampedusa yesterday.
Balcaen, who has sailed in two round the world races, described the possibility of victory as “a dream realised, our first big win — the perfect combination of teamwork, precision, and a little bit of luck.” After a challenging season, he said winning the Rolex Middle Sea Race “would mean the world to every sailor on board.”
Balthasar Crew: Louis Balcaen, Arianne Van de Loosdrecht, Bouwe Bekking, Diego Torrado, Dirk de Ridder, Harry Owens, Harry Smith, Henri Demesmaeker, Jaime Ward, Javier De la Plaza, Jens Dolmer, Juan Totto, Louis-Robert Cool, Max Deckers, Pablo Arrarte, Rogier van Overveld, Simbad Quiroga.
“Tactically, this was a fascinating and at times brutal race,” commented Bekking shortly after finishing. “The weather kept changing its mind, so it was all about staying alert and making decisions early — sometimes before the data fully agreed. We had to be patient and disciplined, always thinking two steps ahead, especially in those long transitions where the wind died completely. Offshore racing rewards the teams that adapt quickest, and that’s where this crew really shines.
“We’ve been sailing together a long time, and that makes an enormous difference. Everyone knows their role; the communication is sharp, and when it’s time to change gears — a sail change, a course shift — it happens instantly. That consistency is what keeps the performance steady through 600 miles of unpredictable weather.”
Confirming one of the key moments in the race was on the approach to Pantelleria, Bekking explained how Balthasar sailed far to the west, hunting for pressure and found it.
“For a while it looked risky,” he admitted. “The Tunisian Coast Guard even called us up to ask what we were doing there! But that move paid off; we came out with good speed and set up perfectly for the reach home from Lampedusa.
“To come away not just winning our class but taking the overall is a huge credit to the whole team. This race has a character of its own — tactically complex, full of traps, but immensely rewarding when it comes together. After all these years racing around the world, it’s fantastic to win a classic like the Rolex Middle Sea Race with such a committed, talented crew,” Bekking concluded.
Quiz Question...
What are the start and finish ports for next year's transatlantic edition of The Ocean Race?
Answer in the next newsletter...
Wednesday's answer: The new name for the Transat Jacques Vabre double-handed transatlantic race that follows the historic coffee trading route between France and Brazil is the Transat Café l’OR.
