The organisers of the 7th Transat Jacques Vabre, the two-handed
transatlantic race between Le Havre and Salavdor de Bahia in Brazil
announced at a press conference in Paris on Thursday evening that safety is
their primary concern.
All the competitors in this ocean race came together on
Thursday evening at the Jardin d'Acclimatation for the launch of the
seventh Transat Jacques Vabre event. The evening was split into two halves,
beginning with the race press conference and ending with a Brazilian-style
reception in the colours of Bahia. Most of the skippers competing in this
year’s event were in attendance beneath the big top of the Phénix Circus.
The celebrations began with a warm welcome for the partners of the event
and the 37 two-man crews who will set sail from Le Havre on 5 and 6
November… 74 sailors in all, including 10 women. The 37 pairs include 6
male/female and 2 all-female crews, 12 nationalities from Europe and the
Americas, 9 previous winners and 31 "newbies" attempting the race for the
first time... A winning combination!
On the technical side, the new Race Director Jean Maurel
has developed a number of innovative features for the 2005 event: a
completely new kind of curtain-raiser in the form of knockout races to be
held at Le Havre on 29 and 30 October, and a ProAm competition to be fought
out in the Bassin de l'Eure. Gérard Petipas’ successor is also
placing a great deal of emphasis on safety throughout the race. As you may
remember, Paul Vatine was lost on the 1999 Transat Jacques Vabre after
capsizing off the coast of Normandy. His crewmate Jean Maurel was below
decks at the moment the trimaran capsized. Having made the decision to
focus on crew safety this year, Jean Maurel carried on to introduce the new
partner of this year’s Transat Jacques Vabre: Wavefinder… a new electronic
man overboard alert and location system that is fast, accurate, reliable
and completely autonomous.
At the end of the press conference, all 37 crews were
issued with the Wavefinder safety kit that will be fitted to all the boats
in the race: antenna, control panel and 2 portable transmitters to be
inserted into lifejackets or worn on belts. The race rules state that the
Wavefinder system must be fitted to every boat in time for the technical
checks scheduled to take place in Le Havre on 28 and 29 October, prior to
the race start on 5 and 6 November.