Calais Round Britain goes fully crewed

This May's Open 60 race gets it's first confirmed entry

Jean le Cam, skipper of the Open 60 Bonduelle and recently second in the Vendée Globe, has been the first to sign up as a competitor in the Calais Round Britain Race, starting from Calais on 22 May 2005.

Le Cam commented: "I am very keen to see the people from the North of France and the port of Calais again after christening Bonduelle there last year. I hope to see the quaysides lit up again by thousands of yellow jackets and thank all those who came to support me. On top of that Calais was our first race and our first victory... We’re going to try and get the same result; I haven’t decided upon a crew yet, but I guarantee you that we would like to return as quickly as possible to Calais and for it to be a great race."

Alongside Bonduelle, five to eight other Open 60s are expected to take part. The line-up is likely to include Roland Jourdain, Mike Golding and possibly even Conrad Humphreys. The list of participants should becoming clearer after the IMOCA AGM at the end of March where the Notice of Race will be presented to the teams.

At the request of the Open 60's IMOCA class, the format of the Calais Round Britain Race has changed from a double-handed race to being a fully-crewed event.

At the end of the Vendée Globe, the competitors expressed a desire not to race double-handed, but to rerun the event fully crewed as it was when the event was first held in 2003. After three months sailing singlehanded in the Vendee Globe, the skippers wanted a change and to get the very best from their boats as the course around the British Isles is taxing, explains Luc Talbourdet, President of the IMOCA Class.

The Sailing Instructions will determine how many crew members will be allowed aboard.
Note that the Calais Round Britain Race is the only race recognised by the Class this spring.