British sailors set for Transat

Six Britons are set to leave Le Havre on Sunday in the two-handed Transat Jacques Vabre yacht race to Costa Rica.

Sam Davies, Dee Caffari, Brian Thompson, Mike Golding, Alex Thomson and Ross Daniel are part of a 14-boat fleet of Open 60s in the biennial race.

Davies, Caffari and Thompson came fourth, fifth and sixth in the last single-handed around-the-world Vendee Globe, which ended earlier this year.

The classic Transat Jacques Vabre race is expected to take about two weeks.

Davies, who was the top Briton in the 2008-2009 Vendee Globe, the race that made the name of Dame Ellen MacArthur in 2000-2001, is racing with co-skipper Sidney Gavignet of France in the powerful new Artemis.

The Southampton-born Davies crossed the line third in the Vendee Globe but was given fourth place after Marc Guillemot was handed a larger time allowance for stopping to assist injured skipper Yann Elies.

Speaking before the Transat Jacques Vabre start in France, Davies told the race's official website that the pared-down fleet would be highly competitive.

"The level is just so high that it very hard to judge how we might do," she said.

"I really just want to finish feeling proud of ourselves and the course we have taken, the way we have sailed.

"So much will be down to the weather and who does what, but I want to feel we have sailed as close to 100% as we can."

Caffari, who set a new around Britain and Ireland record with Davies and an all-female crew in June, came sixth in the Vendee Globe, becoming the first woman to sail solo non-stop around the world in both directions.

Thompson, who finished fifth in the solo race, will partner Caffari on Aviva for the Transat Jacques Vabre.

Golding was forced to retire from the Vendee when his mast snapped just after he had taken the lead, while Thomson also quit after his yacht suffered hull damage in an early storm.

Thomson will be joined onboard Hugo Boss by Daniel, with Golding set to partner Spaniard Javier Sanso on his boat Mike Golding Yacht Racing.

"The fleet is going to be tough, for sure. There just are no bad boats. There are no older boats here," Thomson told the race's official website.

Defending champion Michel Desjoyeaux, a two-time Vendee Globe winner, returns in one of eight all-French crews, while six Multi50 class multihulls will also compete in the race.

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Sam Davies
Dee Caffari
Mike Golding
Alex Thomson
Brian Thompson
Transat Jacques Vabre
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