Transat Café-L'Or

Transat Café-L'Or
First held1993
TypeDouble-handed offshore race
ClassesClass40, IMOCA 60, Multi 50, Ultime
StartLe Havre
FinishVarious

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.12345678910111213141516 17
Year1993199519971999200120032005200720092011201320152017201920212023 2025
ORMA
MOD70
Ultim 32/23
Multi50/Open Fifty
IMOCA 60
Class40
Total de bateaux13111820333835602036444238597995


Ed.YearStartFinish Classes Length of route
11993Le Havre  FranceCarthagene  Colombia
21995Le Havre  FranceCarthagene  Colombia
31997Le Havre  FranceCarthagene  Colombia
41999Le Havre  FranceCarthagene  Colombia
52001Le Havre  FranceSalvador, Bahia  Brazil
62003Le Havre  FranceSalvador, Bahia  Brazil
72005Le Havre  FranceSalvador, Bahia  BrazilAll4340
82007Le Havre  FranceSalvador, Bahia  Brazil
92009Le Havre  FrancePuerto Limón  Costa Rica
102011Le Havre  FrancePuerto Limón  Costa RicaMonohulls
Multi
4730
5323
112013Le Havre  FranceItajaí  BrazilAll5400
122015Le Havre  FranceItajaí  BrazilAll5400
132017Le Havre  FranceSalvador, Bahia  BrazilAll4350
142019Le Havre  FranceSalvador, Bahia  BrazilAll4350
152021Le Havre  FranceFort-de-France Martinique  FranceUltime
IMOCA
Class40
7500
5800
4600
162023Le Havre  France
Lorient  France
Fort-de-France Martinique  FranceUltime
Multi50
IMOCA
Class40
7500
4200
3750
4045
17 2025 Le Havre  France Fort-de-France Martinique  France Ultime
Multi50
IMOCA
Class40
6200 nm

4600 nm 4350 nm 3750 nm