The shores of Québec City and Lévis provide a spectacular vantage point for the start of the offshore race. No other such race offers this kind of natural opportunity to see boats and their crews up close until they get out into the North Atlantic. During the first day of the race, the public will be able to follow the sailboats, moving along the length of the river’s shoreline to follow their progress.
The distance is almost 3,000 nautical miles (5,365 kilometers, 1 n.m. = 1.85 km), of which 376 n.m. are sailed in the St. Lawrence River.
Class40:
The Class40 has become one of the most interesting and competitive racing categories since its arrival in 2004. It came about as a result of brainstorming between designers, sailors and boat constructors. The idea was to create a monohulled boat no bigger than 40 foot that anyone could build and compete with so long as it stayed within the rules. Class40 boats now have a dedicated class for 3 of the biggest Transat events: Transat Jacques Vabre, Route de Rhum and the Quebec St Malo. This class has effectively opened up amateur sailors to doing these events whilst still having a strong professional presence that creates a lot of interest.
TIMEZERO Ambassadors:
As it happened, TIMEZERO had 2 ambassadors competing in the Transat Quebec St Malo. Unfortunately for Bleu Voile Oceanique, due to technical issues they had to pull out of the 2016 event. However, they did complete the race back in 2012, where skipper Éric Tabardel of Canada completed the course in 13 days, 14hours and 8 seconds.
We recently caught up with Bleu Voile Oceanique who were at the Foire de la Voile in Quebec that took place on the 5th of November. As seen in this photo Alain Molimard (left of picture), was showing off the Weather Routing module in TZ Professional v3. Of course, the Weather Routing module is the first tool to have ever existed to provide an ultra-precise calculation of the fastest way to get from point A to point B taking into account weather factors and your boats performance. It is a testament to its success that professional skippers continue to rely on the TIMEZERO Weather Routing module to this day.
For more information on route planning visit our webpage and find out how well it works!
While it may have been curtains for the Quebec outfit Bleu Voile Oceanique, it certainly wasn’t that way for the elite professional skipper Isabelle Joschke, who on board the Generali Horizon Mixité finished a very impressive 2nd place. Not only is this class 40 boat very competitive in the water, it also is a benchmark for eco sailing. The Generali Horizon Mixité boat does not need consume fossil fuels. It can use solar panels and a hydro-generator to provide all the electricity needs. So not only does Isabelle Joschke set the standards for women racing, she also champions sustainability and ocean preservation.