The Transat Café-L'Or (formerly: 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 the clippers transporting coffee from Brazil to France. The Transat Jacques Vabre is a major date on the calendar, taking place every other year in odd years. It is a two-person race and the pairs of sailors are formed according to their complementary skills, what they have in common and how they get on. Boats leave from Le Havre, France's leading coffee importing port, going to Salvador de Bahia, in Brazil, the world's leading coffee grower and exporter (4,335 miles). The first edition in 1993 was a single-handed race.
The event is open to multihulls and monohulls from the following classes: Ultims (multihulls between 70 and 105 feet), IMOCA (60 feet monohulls), Multi 50 and Class40. All kinds of navigational aids are allowed in particular for routing, except for the Class40 boats (as this is forbidden in their own rules).
In 2025 the name of the race was changed to Transat Café-L'Or.
Ed. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Year 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 2021 20232025 ORMA • • • • • • • • MOD70 • Ultim 32/23 • • • • • Multi50/Open Fifty • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• IMOCA 60 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• Class40 • • • • • • • •• Total de bateaux 13 11 18 20 33 38 35 60 20 36 44 42 38 59 79 95
Ed. Year Start Finish ClassesLength of route 1 1993 Le Havre Carthagene 2 1995 Le Havre Carthagene 3 1997 Le Havre Carthagene 4 1999 Le Havre Carthagene 5 2001 Le Havre Salvador, Bahia 6 2003 Le Havre Salvador, Bahia 7 2005 Le Havre Salvador, Bahia All 4340 8 2007 Le Havre Salvador, Bahia 9 2009 Le Havre Puerto Limón 10 2011 Le Havre Puerto Limón MonohullsMulti 47305323 11 2013 Le Havre Itajaí All 5400 12 2015 Le Havre Itajaí All 5400 13 2017 Le Havre Salvador, Bahia All 4350 14 2019 Le Havre Salvador, Bahia All 4350 15 2021 Le Havre Fort-de-France Martinique UltimeIMOCAClass40 750058004600 16 2023 Le Havre Lorient Fort-de-France Martinique UltimeMulti50IMOCAClass407500420037504045 17 2025 Le Havre Fort-de-France Martinique UltimeMulti50IMOCAClass40 6200460043503750
Winners
IMOCA 60 – Winners Ed Year Crew Boat name YearLaunched Elapsed Time Speed(Rhum/Water) Dist. 1 1993 (solo race) Cacolac d'Aquitaine 1990 18d 23h 38m 2 1995 Côtes d'Or 1992 21d 08h 40m 3 1997 Aquitaine Innovations 1996 19d 23h 19m 9.18 / ?? 4 1999 Sodebo 1998 19d 17h 31m / ?? 5 2001 Sill Plein Fruit 1999 16d 13h 23m / ?? 6 2003 Virbac (1) 2003 17d 15h 18m 05s 10,87 / ?? 7 2005 Virbac (1) 2003 13d 09h 19m 13.51 / ?? 8 2007 Foncia (1) 2007 9 2009 Safran (2) 2007 ?? 10 2011 Virbac Paprec 3 2010 15d 18h 13m 54s 12.50 / ? ?? 11 2013 PRB (4) 2010 17d 00h 41m 47s 13.20 / 14.12 5772.3 12 2015 PRB (4) 2010 17d 00h 22m 24s 13,22 / 14.78 6034.1 13 2017 St Michel – Virbac 2015 13d 07h 36m 46s 13,61 / 14.56 4,652 14 2019 Apivia 2019 13d 12h 08m 13.42 / 15.65 5,061.85 15 2021 Linked Out 2019 18d 01h 21m 10s 13.38 / 15.44 6691.3 16 2023 For People 2023 11d 21h 32m 31s 13.13 / 19.00 5425 17 2025 Charal 2022 11 d 19 h 45 m
Class 40 - Winners Event Winning Boat Winning Crew Time Ref. Ed Year S/N Boat name Design YearLaunched Elapsed Time Speed(Rhum/Water) Distance 8 2007 55 Télécom Italia Tyker 40 Evo.2 2007 22d 13h 02m 22s 10 2011 FRA 98 Aquarelle.com Tyker 40 Evo.2 2010 21d 17h 59m 08s 9.06 / ?? 11 2013 FRA 130 GDF Suez Mach 40 2013 20d 21h 41m 25s 10.75 / 11.12 5578.7 12 2015 142 Le Conservateur TIZH 40 2014 24d 08h 10m 09s 9.24 / 10.21 5962.6 13 2017 144 V&B Mach 40.3 2015 17d 10h 44m 15s 10.40 / 10.77 14 2019 158 Crédit Mutuel Max 40 2019 17d 16h 21m 23s 10.25 / 11.11 4714.35 15 2021 161 Redman Mach 40.4 2020 21d 22h 33m 30s 8.74 / ? 16 2023 ITA 181 Alla Grande PIRELLI Musa 40 2022 18d 12h 21m 55s 9.10 / 12.11 5381.51 17 2025
1993 1st Edition The first edition was a single handed race between Le Havre and Cartagena (Colombia). 13 boats started. 1st multihull: Paul Vatine on Région Haute-Normandie. 1st monohull: Yves Parlier on Cacolac d'Aquitaine.
ORMA 60 Multihulls Pos. Crew Boat name YearLaunched Elapsed Time 1 Haute Normandie 1988 16d 00h 46m 2 Primagaz 1990 16d 08h 39m 3 Banque Populaire 1985 17d 01h 26m 4 Buchy Vacances 1984 18d 23h 05m 5 Casino d'Etretat 1990 23d 03h 38m
IMOCA 60 Pos. Crew Boat name YearLaunched Elapsed Time 1 Cacolac d'Aquitaine 1990 18d 23h 38m 2 Bagages Supérior 1992 20d 05h 51m 3 Fujicolor III 1992 20d 20h 45m 4 Citadines 1991 21d 11h 13m 5 Biscuits La Triniraine 1990 22d 19h 41m 6 Groupe LG 1989 23d 01h 39m 7 Maître Coq 28d 13h ABN Drapeau de la France Abandoned
1995 A two-handed race between Le Havre and Cartagena. 1st multihull: Paul Vatine and Roland Jourdain on Région Haute-Normandie. 1st monohull: Jean Maurel and Fred Dahirel on Côte d'Or.
Classements Skippers Bateaux Temps de course
ORMA Pos. Crew LaunchDate Boat nameElapsed TimeNotes 1 1994 Région Haute Normandie 14d 12h 25m 2 1994 Banque Populaire 14d 13h 01m 3 1990 Primagaz 14d 16h 12m 4 1985 La Teste de Buch 19d 20h 17m 5 1990 Groupe Larzul Actually a Multi 50 ABN 1990 Fujicolor II
IMOCA 60 Pos. Crew LaunchDate Boat nameElapsed Time 1 1992 Côtes d'Or 21d 08h 40m 2 1991 PRB Vendée 22d 12h 05m 3 1989 La Novia 22d 23h 47m ABN N/C Claude Philippe Création Abandon ABN 1990 Casino d'Etretat Abandons
1997 Again a two-handed race between Le Havre and Cartagena. 1st multihull: Laurent and his brother Yvan Bourgnon on Primagaz. 1st monohull: Yves Parlier and Éric Tabarly on Aquitaine Innovations.
60ft Multihulls Pos. Crew LaunchDate Boat name Elapsed TimeAvSpeed 1 1990 Primagaz 14d 07h 37m 14.21 2 1994 Chauss' Europ 15d 10h 11m 13.11 3 1990 Fujicolor II 15d 16h 45m 12.88 4 1994 Banque Populaire 16d 01h 08m 12.6 5 1988 Biscuits La Trinitaine 29d 17h 15m 6.17 ABN 1988 Laiterie de Saint-Malo Abandon
IMOCA 60 Pos. Crew LaunchDate Boat name Elapsed TimeAvSpeed 1 1996 Aquitaine Innovations 19d 23h 19m 9.18 2 1990 Somewhere 21d 02h 49m 8.68 3 1992 Saupiquet 22d 07h 40m 8.22 4 1996 Budapest 23d 07h 12m 7.87 ABN 1991 Café Legal Lost Mast ABN 1989 Catalogue Afibel Damage ABN 1992 Gartmore Investisment Abandon ABN N/C Tremblay en France Abandon AB N. Vaughan Arnet Taylor Albright Star (C2)
50ft Multi Pos. Crew LaunchDate Boat name ABN 1990 Climat de France ABN 1997 Rendez-Vous Nature
50ft Monohull Pos. Crew LaunchDate Boat name Elapsed TimeAvSpeed 1 1996 BMW Performances 24d 09h 41m 7.52 ABN A. TaylorN. Vaughan 1986 Albright Star
1999 This year was marked by the disappearance of Paul Vatine, on board the Groupe André. 1st multihull : Loïck Peyron and Franck Proffit on Fujicolor. 1st monohull : Thomas Coville and Hervé Jan on Sodebo.
Multihulls
Pos. Crew LaunchDateBoat name Arrival TimeElapsed TimeRef. 1 1990 Fujicolor II .05/11/1999 06:31:36 15d 02h 08m 2 1998 Groupama .05/11/1999 06:31:36 15d 17h 07m 3 1990 Foncia .05/11/1999 06:31:36 15d 19h 26m 4 1994 Banque Populaire .05/11/99 06:31:36 17d 21h 16m ABN 1997 Brocéliande Pitchpole/Capsized ABN 1998 Biscuits La Trinitaine Board failures ABN 1994 Groupe André Pitchpole/Capsized sadly Paul lost his life ABN N/C
IMOCA 60
Pos. Crew LaunchDate Boat name Arrival TimeElapsed Time 1 1998 Sodebo .05/11/99 06:31:36 19d 17h 31m 2 1998 Whirlpool .05/11/99 07:41:35 19d 18h 41m 3 1997 Team Group 4 .05/11/99 08:03:51 19d 19h 03m 4 1998 Sill Entreprise .05/11/99 08:21:40 19d 19h 21m 5 1998 Somewhere .05/11/99 17:16:13 20d 04h 16m 6 1996 Aquitaine Innovations .06/11/99 18:25:09 21d 05h 25m 7 1998 Gartmore .08/11/99 14:37:48 23d 01h 37m ABN N/C Défi 14 PME ABN 1997 Fila ABN 1990 Geb
IMOCA 50
Pos. Crew Boat name Elapsed Time 1 Pindar 10/11/99 20:54:56 DNF Spirit of Race 12/11/99 19:00:00
2001 A two-handed race between Le Havre and Salvador de Bahia (Brazil). There was a total of 22 boats in 3 classes of boats. 1 out of 14 multihull 60: Franck Cammas and Steve Ravussin on Groupama. 1 out of 12 monohull 60: Roland Jourdain and Gaël Le Cléac'h on Sill Pleint Fruit. 1 out of 17 monohull 50: Alex Bennett and Paul Larsen on One Dream.
ORMA +ORMA 60 Class Results Pos. Crew Boat name LaunchDate Elapsed Time 1 Groupama 1 199814d 09h 03m 2 Foncia 199714d 12h 35m 3 Fujifilm 200114d 22h 11m 4 Bonduelle 200015d 09h 31m5 Belgacom 200115d 15h et 28m 6 Banque Populaire III200116d 02h 21m 7 Fila 200117d 01h 50m 8 Nautica 199019d 15h et 19m 9 Pindar 199021d 22h et 29m RET Banque Covefii 1990Abandon à la suite d'un problème électrique RET Sergio Tacchini 2001Abandon à la suite de multiples avaries RET Biscuits La Trinitaine 1998Abandon à la suite d'une fissure dans la coque RET Gitana IX 1988Abandon à la suite d'un problème de structure RET Eure et Loir 1994Abandon à la suite d'un problème d'étai
IMOCA 60
+IMOCA 60 ResultsPos. Crew Boat name LaunchDateElapsed Time 1 Sill Plein Fruit199816d 13h 23m 2 Ecover (1) 199816d 18h 40m 3 Casto-Darty-But 200016d 20h 10m 4 SME-Negoceane 199817d 01h 23m 5 Voila.fr 199417d 03h 23m 6 Fila 199717d 04h 12m 7 Téménos 199917d 5h 30 m 8 Bobst Group/Armor Lux 199917d 16h 55m 9 Un Univers de Services 199218d 07h 39m 10 Sollac Atlantique199818d 08h 25m 11 This Times199218d 13h 12m RET La rage de vivre1997Abandon
Classe 2 Pos. Crew Boat name YearLaunched Elapsed Time 1 One Dream One Mission 199618d 16h 34m 2 Saving200018d 23h 9m 3 Setrabio199621d h 42m 4 Branec III199323d 13h 51m 5 Tredici200023d 16h 07m 6 Olympian Challenger198626d 11h 07m RET Adecco–Étoile Horizon2011Abandon
2003 From this year there have been 4 categories of boats and 38 competitors. 1st multihull 60 : and on Groupama. 1st monohull 60 : and on Virbac. Ross. 1st multihull 50 : and on Mollymawk. 1st monohull 50 : and on Hellomoto.
60ft Multihulls Pos. Crew Boat name Elapsed Time AvSpeed 1 GROUPAMA 11d 23h 10m 41s 16,49 2 BELGACOM 12d 00h 22m 42s 16,42 3 SERGIO TACCHINI 12d 03h 20m 28s 16,23 4 GEANT 12d 06h 27m 31s 16,05 5 BISCUITS LA TRINITAINE 12d 08h 11m 55s 15,94 6 BANQUE POPULAIRE 12d 09h 27m 44s 15,87 7 SODEBO 12d 11h 20m 15s 15,76 8 GITANA 12d 19h 50m 45s 15,29 9 FONCIA 12d 20h 38m 06s 15,25 10 SOPRA GROUP 12d 20h 55m 50s 15,23 11 BONDUELLE 13d 02h 00m 21s 14,97 12 BAYER CROPSCIENCE 13d 12h 31m 02s 14,44 13 BANQUE COVEFI 13d 19h 04m 00s 14,13 ABD TIM
IMOCA 60 Pos. Crew YearLaunched Boat name Elapsed TimeAvSpeed 1 2003 Virbac 17d 15h 18m 05s 10,87 2 Sill 17d 22h 09m 11s 10,69 3 2003 Ecover 2 17d 22h 28m 37s 10,68 4 1999 PRB 18d 08h 16m 44s 10,43 5 1999 VMI 18d 17h 12m 42s 10,21 6 2000 Team Cowes 18d 19h 57m 35s 10,14 7 Carrefour Prévention 19d 12h 54m 40s 9,75 8 1990 Arcelor 21d 04h 00m 14s 8,97 9 Loire Atlantique 21d 20h 37m 21s 8,67 10 Garnier Belgium 22d 01h 32m 55s 8,58 11 60ème Sud 23d 22h 00m 12s 7,89 12 Adecco 24d 00h 34m 15s 7,85 H.T TIR GROUPE ABN CHEMINEES POUJOULAT-ARMOR LUX ABN 2001 PINDAR ABN 1998 OBJECTIF 3 ABN 1992 CIMENT ST-LAURENT OCEAN
50ft Multihulls Pos. Crew Boat name Elapsed Time AvSpeed H.T. MOLLYMAWK 27d 15h 58m 00s 6,85 ABD ATLANTIC NATURE
50ft Monohulls Pos. Crew Boat name Elapsed Time AvSpeed 1 HELLOMOTO 22d 06h 21m 20s 8,50 H.T. DEFI VENDEEN 24d 18h 01m 15s 7,61 H.T. STORAGETEK 25d 21h 45m 25s 7,26 ABD LABESFAL ABD BRANEC III
2005
The start was 5 November for the monohulls and 6 November for the multihulls. (monohulls 50 and 60 feet) or to do this year. 34 boats were registered:
1st multihull 60 feet (class 1): Pascal Bidégorry and Lionel Lemonchois (France) 1st multihull 50 feet (class 2): Franck-Yves Escoffier and Kevin Escoffier on Crêpes Whaou 1st monohull 60 feet (class 1): Jean-Pierre Dick and Loïck Peyron on Virbac Paprec 1st monohull 50 feet (class 2): Joe Harris and Josh Hall on Gryphon Solo
Multi 60 Orma