Transat Jacques Vabre : les dernières infos Tip & Shaft

Charlie Dalin is docked this week in his original home port, Le Havre, with the dream ticket, a new Verdier designed IMOCA Apivia ready to race their first big transoceanic race. Dalin was graduated from Southampton with a degree in naval architecture in 2006 and from 2015 he has been in the Skipper Macif programme until early in 2018 Apivia, a new Macif brand, announced their support for Dalin on a four year Vendée Globe programme. After finishing third on the 2015 Transat Jacques Vabre as co-skipper to Yann Eliès, Dalin pairs up again with Eliès for the upcoming Transat Jacques Vabre. Tip & Shaft spoke to Charlie…… 

With a professional career which now stretches to nearly 15 years Christopher Pratt has known the highs and the lows. But Pratt, whose mother is from London, now feels life is on the ‘up’. He has worked with long time friend Jérémie Beyou on the IMOCA Charal since the first testing and training now with successive wins in the Défi Azimut and the Rolex Fastnet Race, Pratt is one half of a partnership which is considered favourites to win the upcoming Transat Jacques Vabre. Tip & Shaft caught up with him.

Now at just on one year after the launching of Charal, the first of the new-generation IMOCA to be built, in early August Jérémie Beyou won the Fastnet Race sailing with Christopher Pratt. This was his first win on the VPLP design. So, now at a little more than a month and a half before the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre, the pinnacle event of the season, we meet up and take stock of  past and future developments of  his 60 footer, we talk about the newer boats and the development of his company BeYou Racing.