More than 50 entries have been confirmed so far for the fifth edition of the Drheam Cup, which will take place from 11-21 July 2024 between Cherbourg-en Cotentin and La Trinité-sur-Mer in north-western France.
As previously reported on Afloat.ie, 11 classes — including for the first time the new Sun Fast 30 one design — will take part in the event, the second race in the IRC Two-Handed European Championship, with all results also counting towards the RORC Championship.
In addition, the race will be part of the 2024 European Trophy, along with the Spi Ouest-France, Armen Race and CIC Normandy Channel Race.
“To date, 54 entries have been confirmed, which is very promising,” says Jacques Civilise, founder and organiser of the race. “We expect a large fleet, which will be different to precious editions, due to a very busy race calendar this year.
“We will probably not see some boats that have attended previous editions, the IMOCAs for example, which will be just back from the New York Vendée-Les Sables d’Olonne race and will be going back to their home ports for work before the Vendée Globe, or some of the Class40, who will be finishing the Transat Québec-Saint-Malo or the Figaro Bénéteau 3, who will be on the Tour Voile.”
Several Class40 racers will attend, however, notably the winner of the 2022 edition, Xavier Macaire, who has spoken about his attachment to the Drheam Cup.
“I have made a habit of including the race in my programme, because I love the atmosphere and organisers. This year, it is particularly important to me to defend my title”, says the skipper of Groupe SNEF, who will battle it out in the dynamic 40-foot monohull class with Nicolas Jossier (La Manche Évidence Nautique), the Normandy entrepreneur Alexandre Le Gallais (Trim Control) and two newcomers in Class40, former Mini sailors Louis Mayaud (Belco) and Nicolas Guibal (NG Grand Large).
The majority of the fleet will be made up of IRC, with a large proportion of two-handed IRC entries (26 to date). Another noteworthy fact is that half of the entries are from abroad, with 10 nationalities represented, including many British sailors.
“We are incredible satisfied to welcome so many crews from abroad; it fits fully into the Drheam Cup/Grand Prix de France de Course au Large’s DNA, which is a race open to all,” Civilise says.
“It rewards our hard work in developing the race internationally. Thanks to our friends at the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC), the race will not only be written into the RORC calendar, it will also be part of the RORC Championship, meaning points will count towards the season’s rankings.”
The Drheam Cup is listed in the Manche/Atlantique IRC Championship 2024 programme run by the racing division of the Yacht Club de France, the Multi 2000 class (several boats including Jess, skippered by Gilles Buekenhout and Rayon Vert, skippered by Oren Nataf are already entered) and the Figaro Bénéteau class.
Last but not least, for the first time it will welcome a fleet of Sun Fast 30 one designs, the new prototypes designed by VPLP Design and built by Multiplast and Jeanneau, which will then meet again in September in Lorient for the mixed Double-handed World Offshore Championships. A fleet of ready-to-race boats is available for hire from Cap Regatta.
In addition, the first classic yacht has officially entered the race, the 1938 FIFE design Merry Dancer, owned by Vincent Delaroche, chairman and CEO of Cast Software.
Suffice it to say, the 2024 edition fleet — in which organisers are hoping to also welcome Ultims on the DC1500 course designed for them — is shaping up to be particularly rich in terms of the variety of boats on the water, with the mix of professionals and amateurs that has contributed to its success since 2016.
For more details see the Drheam Cup website HERE.
