More invigorating than coffee. Transat Jacques Vabre launches on 5 November

One of the most famous offshore regattas, the Transat Jacques Vabre will start this Sunday 5 November from the shores of Le Havre, France. «The 13th edition of the» coffee race will feature 38 boats in four classes (Class 40, Multi 50, IMOCA and ULTIME) led by 76 sailors.

The race has 4,350 nautical miles to race to Salvador, Brazil which based on previous years' experience will not be easy.

In the previous Transat Jacques Vabre several boats retired due to severe breakdowns, in addition to one trimaran capsized and another collided with a container.

This year the yacht from the Yacht Club of Monaco will participate for the first time in the prestigious transatlantic regatta. It will be the 18.28-metre IMOCA 60 Malizia II directed by Boris Herrmann and Thomas Ruyant.

Also in the battle for first place will be the world's largest trimaran Gitana 17that came off the water this year. Sébastien Josse and Thomas Rouxel will be tackling the 32m giant.

Normally this boat is steered by six people, but according to the rules only crews in pairs are allowed to participate in the race.

The route, which used to take coffee to Europe, will be part of the Edmond De Rothschild team's preparation for the 2019-2020 circumnavigation, which is their global goal for the near future.

Past winners have been Francois Gabart and Pascal Bidegorry , covering 5,400 nautical miles in 12 days, 17 hours and 29 minutes on the trimaran Macif.

However, this time the ambitious Gabar has other plans for his 100ft three-huller. The Frenchman intends to embark on a solo circumnavigation in the near future to break the world record.

Gabar originally planned to put to sea on October 22, but so far the yachtsman has been waiting for the perfect weather window. He has set himself a late start date of January 15, after which there will be no point in trying to overtake Thomas Coville.