The "B to B" transatlantic race, which is the return race from the Transat Jacques Vabre, will shortly be raced by solo sailors between the island of St. Barts and Lorient offering skippers the possibility to qualify for the 2012 Vendée Globe. Just to remind you, the first edition which was raced from Salvador de Bahia in 2007, was won by Loïck Peyron, who came in ahead of Kito de Pavant and Michel Desjoyeaux. The second edition also looks like attracting a top class line-up.
Eight competitors will be setting out in the second edition of the Transat B to B: Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac-Paprec 3), brilliant winner of the Transat Jacques Vabre and the Barcelona World Race will be aiming to show that he can also excel sailing solo. He is going to be facing some tough competition, like Armel Le Cléac'h (Banque Populaire), Vincent Riou (PRB) and Marc Guillemot (Safran).
The British contingent will be well represented with Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss), who has just had his confidence boosted by finishing second in the Transat Jacques Vabre, and Mike Golding (Gamesa) who is currently checking out the modifications made to his monohull. For François Gabart (Macif) and Louis Burton (Bureau Vallée), this will be a baptism of fire, as they will be sailing alone this time.
Winter racing
12 to 16 days at sea in wintery conditions. That is what the solo sailors can look forward to in this single-handed transatlantic race, which is an excellent warm up before the next Vendée Globe. After the Transat Jacques Vabre, which was particularly demanding on the men and their machines, the sailors need to regain their breath for a few days before setting off again on the delivery trip to St. Barts, which is the starting point for this race.
