Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: PIERRE BOURAS / DPPI VIA AFP 07:49 a.m., November 19, 2023

Already winners in 2021, Thomas Ruyant and Morgan Lagravière won the 16th edition of the Transat Jacques-Vabre on Sunday in Martinique aboard their latest-generation Imoca. Setting sail from Le Havre on 7 November, the duo at the helm of the For People yacht crossed the line at 2:02 a.m. local time, 7:02 a.m. in Paris, after 11 days 21 hours and 32 minutes of racing.

After 11 days, 21 hours and 32 minutes, they are victorious again! Thomas Ruyant and Morgan Lagravière won the 16th edition of the Transat Jacques-Vabre in Martinique on Sunday aboard their latest-generation IMOCAs. Having set sail from Le Havre on 7 November, the 40 IMOCAs entered, the famous monohulls of the Vendée Globe, were initially due to set sail on 29 October to take on the Atlantic, but they remained docked for a little over a week due to storms Ciaran and Domingos.

>> Watch Europe matin week-end 6-9 in podcast and replay here

Double on the "Coffee Route"

For the 42-year-old sailor Thomas Ruyant, this victory is synonymous with a double on the "Coffee Route", and also an unprecedented treble in offshore racing: he won the Transat Jacques-Vabre 2021, with Lagravière, and the Route du Rhum solo in 2022. A discreet and charismatic sailor, Ruyant achieved this new feat aboard an 18-metre monohull launched last March and designed for the 2024 Vendée Globe, his main objective after finishing 6th in the last edition.

Behind Ruyant and Lagravière, the second place in Imoca was to be played between For The Planet and Paprec Arkéa, expected in a few hours in the bay of Fort-de-France. The Maxi Banque Populaire XI won the Transat Jacques-Vabre on Monday in the Ultim (32-metre multihull) and Solidaires en Peloton won on Thursday in the Ocean Fifty (15-metre multihull). The Class 40 (12-metre monohull), the last class of boats entered, are expected to cross the line in the middle of next week in Martinique.