The G-Class gets to race again

News from the 2008 Quebec-St Malo race

Wednesday April 11th 2007, Author: James Boyd, Location: Transoceanic
Traditionally every year since 1984 the return race from the OSTAR (or the Transat as it is now) is the 3,000 mile Quebec-St Malo, one of the rare occasions 60ft trimarans and Open 60s get to blast across an ocean, downwind at maximum pace fully crewed.

The Quebec-St Malo race is to take place again next year, for the seventh time since the 85ft maxi-cats Royale and Charente Maritime, the titans of their day, finished just minutes apart in 1984. The event this year coincides with Quebec's 400th anniversary celebrations.

Start date has been set as 20 July, 2008 and will see the boats set sail on one of the most extraordinary courses, first down the great St Laurence River, then out into the icy Labrador current, round the bottom of Newfoundland before heading out into the open Atlantic bound for St Malo.

The race in recent years has been thin on the ground in terms of Open 60 monohulls - its start is too close to the Vendee Globe and with the down turn in participation recently in the ORMA 60 trimarans, so for the first time the race next year is being opened up to G-Class maxi multihulls (and about time, we say). If one considers that in the 2000 race Yvan Bourgnon set a 60ft trimaran 24 hour record of 625.34 miles (at the time less than half a mile outside Grant Dalton's outright record on Club Med) then this will be a good occasion to see the outright 24 hour record once again broken.

In addition to this the race will also be part of the Class 40 calendar and open to 50ft monos and multis.

Past winners:

2004 : Karine Fauconnier (Sergio Tacchini)
2000 : Franck Cammas (Groupama)
1996 : Loïck Peyron (Fujicolor II)
1992 : Laurent Bourgnon (Primagaz)
1988 : Serge Madec (Jet Services)
1984 : Loïc Caradec (Royale)

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