Open 60 1000 miler

Another race from Calais kicks off IMOCA Open 60 season

The IMOCA calendar for the Open 60s kicks off on 9 May from Calais. This port seems to be a popular choice with race organisers recently having seen the start of the Courses des Phares and last year the Open 60's Calais Round Britain Race.

The 1000 Milles de Calais, as its name suggests, is 1,000 miles long and takes the boats along the north coast of France then around the Fastnet rock and back down the Channel to a mark off Dover, before the final sprint against the ferries back to Calais.

Once again the Dover-Calais leg will provide the boats with an opportunity to set a record for this short blast. Currently the record time is 1 hour 18 minutes and 50 seconds set in the Calais Round Britain Race last year by Objective 3 (formerly Gartmore).

The Open 60s will be sailed in their 'fully crewed' mode, which means five up. Routing is prohibited.

The start of the race is scheduled for 1500GMT and the Open 60s must be in Calais' Bassin Ouest from 1200 on Wednesday 5 May. Exhibition races are planned on the afternoons of 7 and 8 May.

The event, like The Transat, forms part of the celebrations of the centenary of the Anglo-French Entent Cordiale. 35,000 Euros in prize money is up for grabs.

At present the entry list is still be finalised, but all eyes will be on the two new Lombard Open 60s Sill and Bonduelle for whom the 1000 Milles de Calais will be their inaugural race. Mike Golding is believed to be taking part on Ecover 2 as will Joe Seeten on Arcelor.