Imoca

Imoca

IMOCAs have raced in the Vendée Globe since it first began back in 1989. In 1991, Christophe Auguin, Isabelle Autissier, Alain Gautier and Jean-Luc Van Den Heede founded the IMOCA class (International Monohull Open Class Association), which since 1998 has been recognised by World Sailing (the International Sailing Federation).

The world’s fastest ocean racing monohulls

IMOCAs are designed to be as light as possible to offer speed, while being solid enough to withstand the worst conditions that you can find when sailing on the high seas. Today, thanks to their foils, the most recent boats achieve peak speeds above 40 knots... or in other words, twice the speed of the very first IMOCAs. In 2023, in the North Atlantic, Boris Herrmann and his crew set an outright record becoming the fastest monoohull over 24 hours, having sailed 641.13 miles, a success obtained at an average speed of 26.71 knots.

In 2018, the Class launched the IMOCA Globe Series, a championship including the most prestigious solo, double-handed and crewed racing events, including the two famous round the world races, the Vendée Globe (single-handed) and The Ocean Race (mixed crews) and the historic Transat Jacques Vabre. With between four and six races a year, the IMOCA Globe Series rewards those who compete the most, as well as the performance of the skippers. Among the big names in the circuit, let us just mention Charlie Dalin’s results, as he grabbed the title of IMOCA Champion two seasons in a row in 2021 and 2022.

IMOCA sailors are in a special position from where they have been able to observe from the forefront, the constant, ongoing changes that are happening to the Ocean. In 2021, IMOCA became the first ocean racing class to vote in favour of technical rules encouraging transition with the aim of reducing and enhancing its impact, while keeping the excitement of racing. They have also been signed up alongside the IOC-UNESCO (UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission) since 2015, helping the scientific community to gather ocean data from the most remote places in the world.