FINISH LINE: It is an imaginary line between the Beg Meil signal station and the Concarneau harbor. The boats crossing the finish line can be watched from the shores (even by the English-speaking public…).Afterwards, the boats shall be berthed in the Port-La-Forêt harbour, where many attractions and activities shall be open to the public on Dec 14th, 15th and 16th.

The 2007 Transat Ecover-BtoB is a transatlantic sailing race between Salvador de Bahia (Brasil) and Port-La-Forêt (Finistere, Brittany).

The state of BAHIA and the city of SALVADOR officially support the Transat ECOVER BtoB, the first major single-handed West – East transatlantic sailing race to start from BRAZIL....

“The arrival of Ecover will strengthen the race organisation and consolidates several months of work in the quest to associate a private partner with the local public communities” announced Gaëtan Gouerou, organiser of this transatlantic race, earlier today. “This support will contribute to the internationalisation of the event and also forms part of the development of the Imoca fleet. It is a partnership that will enable the organisation to make full use of its communication tools, ensuring that the race can be followed by everyone in the best possible way.”

1. The Port-La-Forêt marina 2. The birthing of Open 60' monohulls. 3. The Marina extension and the Transat ECOVER BtoB

Though the descent towards Brazil is mainly downwind, the Transat ECOVER BtoB is instead characterised by long periods of close-hauled sailing.

The IMOCA (International Monohull Open Class Association), which was recognised as an international class by the ISAF in 1998, was created sixteen years ago, just a few months before the start of the first edition of the Vendée Globe. Several ocean racers, who wanted to organise their sport and set up some measurement rules for their 60-foot monohulls, decided to join forces. Isabelle AUTISSIER, Christophe AUGUIN, Alain GAUTIER and Jean-Luc VAN DEN HEEDE were the founding members of IMOCA, of which Luc TALBOURDET is the current chairman.

Few parameters are defined by the Imoca class measurement, other than the LOA, draught and above all the stability criteria (the boats undergo righting tests as they must be able to right themselves in certain configurations). The emphasis has been placed on safety, particularly in the aftermath of the 1996 Vendée Globe.