The Retour à la base, formerly Transat B to B (short for "back to Brittany") is a

transatlantic Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film) ...

yacht race Yacht racing is a sailing sport involving sailing yachts and larger sailboats, as distinguished from dinghy racing, which involves open boats. It is composed of multiple yachts, in direct competition, racing around a course marked by buoys or o ...

exclusive to

IMOCA 60 The IMOCA ("Open 60"), is a 60ft development class monohull sailing yacht administered by the International Monohull Open Class Association (IMOCA). The class pinnacle event are single or two person ocean races, such as the Route du Rhum and t ...

yachts, which first took place in 2007. It was introduced as a return race from destination of the

Transat Jacques Vabre The Transat Jacques Vabre is a yachting race that follows the historic coffee trading route between France and Brazil. It is named after (and sponsored by) a French brand of coffee. The course was drawn up back in 1993 to follow in the wake of ...

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

Metropolitan France Metropolitan France (french: France métropolitaine or ''la Métropole''), also known as European France (french: Territoire européen de la France) is the area of France which is geographically in Europe. This collective name for the European ...

, home to most IMOCA teams. Since its introduction it was held every four years in the year before the

Vendée Globe --> The Vendée Globe is a single-handed (solo) non-stop round the world yacht race. The race was founded by Philippe Jeantot in 1989, and since 1992 has taken place every four years. It is named after the Département of Vendée, in France ...

except 2019. A crewed edition was planned for 2021 but was cancelled later.

History

2007 Edition

2011 Edition

2015 Edition

2023 Edition

The course is between Fort-de-France,

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...

overseas France Overseas France (french: France d'outre-mer) consists of 13 French-administered territories outside Europe, mostly the remains of the French colonial empire that chose to remain a part of the French state under various statuses after decoloni ...

and

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town ('' commune'') and seaport in the Morbihan department of Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginning around 3000 BC, settlements in the area of Lorient are attested by the presen ...

. It was held as a qualification race for the 2024-2025 Vendée Globe following the

in the 2023 IMOCA 60 race calendar. 32 skippers started the race. For several skippers it was the first solo race in an IMOCA 60, among others Sam Goodchild, Yoann Richomme, Violette Dorange and Nico Lunven. Several skippers who announced to compete had to cancel their participation due to damages taken during the 2023 Transat Jacques Vabre or illness. Most notably reining Vendée Globe winner

Yannick Bestaven Yannick Bestaven (born 28 December 1972 in Saint-Nazaire in the Loire-Atlantique region) is a French offshore sailor. He won the Transat 6.50 in 2001, was twice winner of the Transat Jacques-Vabre, and won the Vendee Globe in 2020-21. Biography ...

and Charlie Dalin. The race start was on 30th November 2023. Tanguy Le Turquais and Jean Le Cam started several days later.

References

External links

Retour à la base
(Official website) {{Offshore sailing races Single-handed crew sailing competitions Sailing competitions Transatlantic sailing competitions IMOCA 60 class sailing competitions