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We’re proud to announce that Elan Yachts had just won a “Red Dot: Product Design” award for our new flagship, the Elan GT6. The “Red Dot” is the most sought-after industrial design award in the world, and the 2021 winners were chosen out of a pool of 7800 applicants from 60 countries. The GT6 previously won the Oceanway award for Best Interior Design and won the nominations for European Yacht of the Year award, the British Yachting Award and is currently also short-listed for the International Yacht and Aviation award.

The Elan GT6 is an ambitious collaborative project between Elan Yachts, Studio F. A. Porsche and Humphreys Yacht Design. It successfully delivered a segment defining yacht and is a worthy flagship to Elan's existing range. It is designed to be easily handled by a couple, yet capable of exhilarating performance across a wide range of wind and sea conditions. Its hull, drawn by Humphreys Yacht Design, combines race-derived features with the ability to carry a full cruising payload, perfectly optimised for short-handed, medium-range cruising. Combined with extensive CFD modelling, the yacht design produced a thoroughbred sailboat which delivers exhilarating performance on all points of sail.

Above the waterline, the GT6 is the first ever sailing yacht designed and styled by Studio F. A. Porsche, with an elegant silhouette and iconic good looks that will turn heads in any marina. Key features that convinced the Red Dot judges include a next-generation ergonomic cockpit with gull-wing helm pedestals and a segment-defining fully flush foredeck.

Unique styling by Studio F. A. Porsche, focused on elegance and usability; creating a distinct product silhouette with sharp lines and elaborately curved surfaces. As a unique feature, the design creates flares of light as the yacht moves through the water.

Below decks, Studio F. A. Porsche’s interior design flair brings game-changing levels of comfort and luxury to Elan’s new flagship model, while preserving the practicality of the boat as a family cruiser. Premium materials are used throughout, showcasing the fine craftsmanship of Elan’s artisan shipwrights. Focus on ergonomics and embedding a host of innovative design features bring a new level of luxury to life on board, unparalleled in a sailing yacht of its size.

‘We’re honoured that our innovative flagship won the Red Dot award,’ says Marko Škrbin, head of the Elan Yachts shipyard. ‘The GT6 truly is a small superyacht: high-level woodwork, best in GRP technology and unique design inspire true "grand turismo” spirit”.

The “Red Dot” is the award for high design quality. The international jury only awards this sought-after seal of quality to products that feature an outstanding design.

Elan’s dedication to innovative design is also evident from the fact that the Elan ski division was awarded a “Red Dot: Best of the Best 2021” award for their revolutionary Voyager foldable all-mountain ski series.

For its 15th edition, the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre is injecting fresh impetus into the race, bound for Martinique! For the first time in its history, the Transat Jacques Vabre is heading out to explore the West Indies. Indeed, it’s Fort-de-France Bay, which will host the finish of the longest and most demanding double-handed transatlantic race, in what promises to be a sensational spectacle.

The historic starting point remains the same: the Bassin Paul Vatine in Le Havre. In 2021, the founding members of the race, namely the City of Le Havre and JDE group, will be assisted with the organisation of the event by the Normandy region. Today, above and beyond being a race, the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre aspires to become an event. As such, it is eager to make the most of its considerable renown and turn it to good account, to inspire, to encourage and to pass on a message.

At the forefront of these new ambitions is the desire to break new ground in terms of environmental issues. This commitment to CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) is evidenced by the fact that the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre will launch two innovative programmes: a competition (open to start-ups and students) to showcase projects promoting a reduction in our carbon footprint, together with a conference on good environmental practice.

Moreover, the fresh impetus championed by the new Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre team will be used to support the feminisation of offshore racing, by encouraging a project helmed by a female sailor, who would like to participate in her first transatlantic race. Finally, the Coffee Route 2021 version also intends to strengthen the links between real sailing and virtual racing, by officially integrating a fifth Virtual Regatta class.

This year, out on the racetrack and in all the actions carried out in relation to the race, the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre has set itself the task of enhancing performance and respecting its environment. To this end, it hopes to join together numerous skippers ready to brave the Atlantic in pairs from 7 November, the start date for the 2021 edition.

ROUTE2021

4 CLASSES ON THE WATER, 3 DIFFERENT COURSES

The race will set sail off Sainte-Adresse, to the north-west of Le Havre. One to two hours later, the fleet is expected to reach the Etretat mark, celebrated as the perfect vantage point for spectators. Indeed, the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre always kicks off with a show sequence before heading offshore.

The first section of the course involves a common-core syllabus for all the different classes. This will start with the exit from the English Channel, either by hunting down a trajectory along the English coast or skirting the Cotentin peninsula, according to the weather conditions. In the English Channel and at the north-west tip of Brittany, the skippers will have to be on their guard against the abundance of shipping.

Next up will be the negotiation of the Bay of Biscay, which can sometimes be a theatre for quite potent gales in November. Once around Cape Finisterre, the sailors will drop down the North Atlantic in a bid to hook onto the trade wind. It’s here, to the south of the Canaries, that the three courses will part ways.

The Ocean Fiftys and Imocas will both set a course towards the Brazilian archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, in a nod to the race’s historical destination. The complete circuit equates to 5,800 miles. These boats will cross the equator twice over, which translates as two passages through the doldrums, though the second, further out to the west, should be less hazardous. The Ocean Fiftys are expected to be first into Fort-de-France after 12 to 15 days at sea. Meantime, the Imocas could take 14 to 17 days.

The course adopted by the Class40s will be shorter in distance at 4,600 miles. They’ll have to leave the island of Sal to starboard, at Cape Verde, before powering eastwards to Martinique. They won’t have to negotiate the doldrums or the equator so the Class 40 circuit should be completed in 17 to 22 days.

Finally, the course for the Ultims, the fastest boats on the circuit, is inevitably the longest: 7500 miles. The designated waypoint rounding is another Brazilian archipelago, off the coast of Rio de Janeiro : Trindade and Martim Vaz. Here too, the crews must double up on their passages across the equator and through the doldrums. They are estimated to finish after 16 to 17 days.