Class40 : les dernières infos Tip & Shaft

Five boats are still racing in the Globe40 race which left Tangier at the end of June whilst The Race Around due to go in 2023 has been cancelled. Both races were launched just over three years ago with the ambition of each bringing together at least 15 boats. And so in the end these races around the world in Class40s which seemed at the time to promise so much have not achieved the success which was expected by their respective organizers. Here we look more closely….

On Friday morning Yoann Richomme took the second place in the Lamotte Malouine 40 24-hour race, an event which mustered 31 Class40s in Saint-Malo and runs until Sunday. The 2018 Class40 Route du Rhum winner was just over two minutes behind the winner, Corentin Douguet. Two hours after his arrival, Tip & Shaft spoke with the skipper of Paprec Arkéa, who is very busy, between preparing for the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe and building his new Imoca.

Announcements during the past two weeks have confirmed the construction of four new Class40s, for Antoine Carpentier, Axel Tréhin, Jonas Gerckens and Aurélien Ducroz. This does seem to prove that Class40 continues to attract sailors and sponsoring partners even in times of crisis. More announcements are expected to follow including a new Pogo40 for Jean Galfione. How did these projects happen and how do they shape up. Has the crisis actually had an impact? Tip & Shaft investigated.