The 1000 Race: Corentin Horeau ready for first IMOCA solo race

This is a 1,200-nautical mile sprint from Brittany to the iconic Fastnet Rock off the southwest tip of Ireland and back, via two virtual waypoints in the Bay of Biscay. The weather forecast suggests a predominantly light-airs race, although there could be some fast foiling heading south from the Fastnet in a north-northwesterly air stream.

Seven skippers will take the start off Port-la-Forêt today, among them four sailors racing solo in IMOCA for the first time - the French sailors Corentin Horeau, Nico D’Estais, and Elodie Bonafous, plus the Italian-American skipper Francesca Clapcich.

There are also some proven IMOCA competitors in the form of four-time Vendée Globe finisher Arnaud Boissières, Violette Dorange who completed her first Vendée Globe last year, and the current IMOCA Globe Series Champion - Sam Goodchild at the helm of MACIF Santé Prévoyance.

Among the solo rookies, 36-year-old Corentin Horeau, whose MACSF is the Antoine Koch-Finot Conq-designed former Paprec Arkéa that finished second in the last Vendée Globe, is regarded as a highly-rated newcomer to IMOCA ranks.

The winner of the 2023 Solitaire du Figaro, Horeau can’t wait to get started on his first race on a boat that did so well in the capable hands of Yoann Richomme. With the clock ticking down to the start, he told the Class he is happy enough to be facing what looks like being a lightwind and upwind start.

“Listen,” he said, “it’s pretty good for a first time - light conditions to get started. But you still shouldn’t forget that light conditions like this can be quite demanding too, because you have to do a lot of manoeuvering and probably a lot of sail changes. So it’s energy-consuming. But overall, it’s definitely better to spend these first 24 hours in relatively easy conditions. It takes the pressure off for a first race.”

The 1000 Race may be a short course, but it is a highly technical one with headlands to negotiate, strong tidal currents in the English Channel, restricted zones, commercial and fishing traffic to avoid, and constantly changing coastal weather. Horeau says the main challenge for him will be trying to get some rest on a racetrack where it will be hard to leave the cockpit.

“Because I’ve never done a 100% solo race on this boat yet, I’ll need to find the right moments to rest properly,” he said. “The big question is sleep - how I’m going to manage it. I’ll try to make myself get proper rest and we’ll take stock of how it’s going at the end of next week.”

Horeau is not alone in feeling a little bit of pressure to do well, with high expectations for him at the start of the build-up to the next Vendée Globe in 2028. The same can be said of several of his rivals in this fleet, not least Violette Dorange racing Sam Davies’s Initiatives-Cœur for the first time on her own, Francesca Clapcich doing the same on 11th Hour Racing, the former Malizia Sea-Explorer, and Elodie Bonafous going into battle on the MACIF Santé Prévoyance sistership, Association Petits Princes-Quéguiner, for the first time solo.

But deflecting outside expectations of him, Horeau says he is trying not to worry about a good result first time out in a race that he views as part of his build-up to his first Vendée Globe, but also this season’s Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe in November. “Of course, we’d like to achieve a good result in this race, but the main goal is to learn and get settled. We have a great boat that’s very high-performing, but we mustn’t forget that it’s my first time,” said Horeau.

Race Director Hubert Lemonnier says he is delighted by the quality of this fleet, even if it is not the biggest in the history of this race. “It’s a good mix of very good sailors and very good boats,” he said.

One sailor he particularly mentioned is Frenchman Nico D’Estais who is racing the oldest boat in the fleet and the only one without foils, in the shape of Café Joyeux, a 2010-vintage VPLP Verdier design regarded as the fastest non-foiling package in the IMOCA fleet.

Lemonnier is impressed with the 34-year-old former Class40 skipper who is looking to make his mark in a boat recently sailed by Benjamin Ferré. “D’Estais is a good sailor with good skulls and he’s a tough guy,” said Lemonnier. “I think he has the profile to do this kind of sailing and he is very focused - he is really focused on performance, even if he knows his boat might be a bit behind in some conditions.”

Lemonnier says that after a tricky lightwind start, the fleet should have enough wind to get them to the Fastnet where the first boats could be expected on Tuesday afternoon. From there the leaders should enjoy a fast downwind course all the way to the second of two virtual waypoints northwest of Cape Finisterre, from where they will turn for home and the finish at Concarneau next Saturday.

He said he was particularly pleased to see three female skippers taking the start of this first contest in the 2026 IMOCA season, reflecting the drive in the Class to attract more female competitors and shore team staff.

“It’s basically what we have worked for over the last four or five years. So the results of what we aimed for are now right in front of us. We have youngsters in this fleet, we have new sailors, female sailors and people that deserve to be here and can’t wait to sail,” summarised Lemonnier.