Transat into the heart of New York City

The 2024 Transat CIC is set to bring solo ocean racing’s biggest, most modern IMOCA and Class40 fleet to the very heart of New York City.

The city of New York is inextricably linked to the long history of solo ocean racing. Some years before anyone had really worked up the idea of racing solo around the globe, in 1957 English yachtsman Colonel Herbert ‘Blondie’ Hasler proposed a solo race across the Atlantic from Plymouth to New York.

And so in 1960 on June 10, the Observer Singlehanded TransAtlantic race set off with five intrepid solo skippers starting off Plymouth, not all on the day.

Racing the biggest boat in the fleet, the 40 footer Gypsy Moth III, English yachtsman Francis Chichester won, crossing the finish line in the approaches to New York after 40 days 12 hours and 30 minutes. Remarkably, all five of the starters finished, French pioneer Jean Lacombe on his 21.5 footer Cap Horn reaching New York fifth after 74 days, having started three days late and taking the most southerly route close to the Azores.

When he won the second edition of the OSTAR, contested in 1964, 32 year old French naval lieutenant Eric Tabarly ignited France’s enduring national love affair with ocean racing and solo adventures at sea.

On the 44-foot ketch Pen Duick II, which Taberly had built for the race, and following a carefully calculated route which was the result of his comprehensive pre-race weather studies, he finished into Newport three days before England’s second placed Chichester. Tabarly had never used his radio during the race, and for 19 days of his passage had no self-steering.

This historic transatlantic race has variously finished in New York, Newport, and Boston over the years.

New York offers so much, not least passing the Statue of Liberty and arriving in the ‘city that never sleeps’ docking against the Manahattan skyline. While the Hudson River is a very, very busy stretch of water to bring a race finish, bringing ocean racing right to the very heart of one of the world’s richest and most dynamic cities has a huge appeal.

So it is both appropriate and exciting that The Transat CIC 2024 solo race from Lorient, getting underway on April 28, will finish into New York, just as the very first pioneering race did in 1960.

New York has a long and proud maritime and sailing history. The New York Yacht Club was founded in July 1844 when John Cox Stevens and eight New York yachtsmen met about his new yacht Gimcrack off the Battery at the foot of Manhattan Island.

Stevens served as the first commodore who went on to be part of a syndicate which owned America which won what became the America’s Cup in 1851 in England. And, of course the NYYC held the America’s Cup until 1983 when they were defeated by Australia and the club continues to play an important role in the popularity of sailing in the city and out of Newport where they have their famous Harbor Court base.

After they finish, the Transat CIC boats will be berthed at the ONE°15 Brooklyn Marina in the heart of Brooklyn Bridge Park, between Piers 4 and 5 and close to Dumbo and Brooklyn Heights.

A fleet of 34 IMOCA 60 yachts in anticipated which will include many of the latest, cutting edge foiling designs representing nine different nations. Also, 13 of the latest Class40s have entered with Italians Alberto Bona (IBSA) and Ambrogio Beccaria (Alla Grande – Pirelli) among the favorites to win.

As such this will represent by far the biggest and most significant gathering of modern ocean racing yachts to be hosted in New York for many years.

England based James Harayda, at the age of 26, will be one of the youngest skippers on The Transat CIC. He is looking to complete his IMOCA qualification for the 2024-25 Vendée Globe solo round the world race which starts in November. Harayda launched his campaign for the 2024 Vendée Globe in early 2022, finishing his debut season strongly with a strong result in the Route du Rhum, James’ first major solo transatlantic race from Saint Malo to Guadeloupe.

Harayda’s father is American and his family lived in Dallas when he was young and more recently has spent three seasons professional sailing out of Newport, RI.

“I am super excited to be coming back to America, this time with my own boat and my own program,” said Harayda. “There is something very unique and special about racing into New York Harbor and seeing such an iconic skyline. That is something I have always wanted to do and will be so exciting to see the city from the water. I hope that our presence will inspire other Americans to get into this kind of sailing.

“Right now you can count the number of American boats which do this kind of racing on one hand. I am not sure why that is – perhaps the distance from France which really is the epicenter of solo sailing – but I think being there will be big thing.

“My preparations have been good and I’m feeling confident in myself and the boat which is always a nice place to find yourself. Over winter, we got a lot of work done in terms of the reliability of the boat which at the moment, is the priority in the build up to the Vendée Globe. And for me, I just need to spend as much time on the boat racing as possible.”

Italian American Francesca Clapcich, skipper of UpWind by MerConcept, has set her sights on the 2028 Vendée Globe. “Interest in offshore sailing in the USA is growing, thanks to 11th Hour Racing Team winning The Ocean Race – the first American team to do so – and more recently the huge audiences following Cole Brauer in her Class40.

“The Transat CIC finish will be a chance for Americans to see more of our sport – high performance racing in high-tech, state-of-the-art raceboats. The fleet is full of the most incredible talent and I’ll be following the race closely as my long-term goal is to be racing in the 2028 Vendée Globe – solo, non-stop, around the world.”

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Source: agence.rivacom.fr