The Transat: from 40 days to 8 to New York
The Transat is the oldest solo ocean race: it was born in 1960 between Plymouth and New York. Francis Chichester won it in about forty days (Old Salt Blog). Today the crossing takes just over eight days, against the prevailing winds of the North Atlantic.
A course that has changed
The start and finish ports have changed over the editions, so there is no single record, only benchmark times per course:
| Year | Winner | Boat | Course | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Michel Desjoyeaux | Géant | Plymouth - Boston | 8 d 8 h 29 min |
| 2016 | François Gabart | MACIF | Plymouth - New York | 8 d 8 h 54 min 39 s |
| 2024 | Yoann Richomme | Paprec Arkéa | Lorient - New York | 8 d 6 h 53 min 32 s |
Sources: Wikipedia, The Transat and World Sailing.
2016: Gabart 25 minutes short
In 2016, François Gabart and his Ultim trimaran MACIF actually sailed 4,634 miles at an average of more than 23 knots. He missed Michel Desjoyeaux's time by 25 minutes; Desjoyeaux had won in 2004 on the ORMA 60 trimaran Géant (World Sailing).
2024: a monohull faster than the trimarans
In 2024 the race started from Lorient for the first time and was open only to IMOCAs and Class40s. Yoann Richomme won on Paprec Arkéa in 8 days 6 hours 53 minutes and 32 seconds (The Transat). On a different course, this foiling monohull went under the trimarans' times of 2004 and 2016. In 2016 the best IMOCA, Armel Le Cléac'h, had taken 12 days 2 hours.
Further reading
The course is on The Transat CIC page of the globe, and other races starting from southern Brittany are on the Lorient starts page. The next edition is expected in 2028, the year of the next Vendée Globe, in which Richomme finished second in 2025: see the history of the Vendée Globe record.