The IMOCA is a 60ft development class monohull sailing yacht governed by the International Monohull Open Class Association (IMOCA). The class pinnacle event are single or two person ocean races, such as the Route du Rhum and the Vendée Globe and this has been intimately linked to design development within the class. The class is recognised by World Sailing.
Isabelle Autissier is a French sailor, navigator, writer, and broadcaster. She is celebrated for being the first woman to have completed a solo world navigation in competition. Based in La Rochelle since 1980, she is also a writer and honorary president of World Wildlife Fund-France.
Yoann Richomme is a French navigator, sailor and yacht skipper. He has won the Solitaire du Figaro in 2016 and 2019 and the Route du Rhum in the Class 40 category in 2018 and 2022. In the Imoca class, he won the Retour à la Base 2023 and The Transat 2024.
The 2020–2021 Vendée Globe was a non-stop round the world yacht race for IMOCA 60 class yachts crewed by only one person. It was the ninth edition of the race, which started and finished in Les Sables-d'Olonne, France. The race began on 8 November 2020, with the first finishers completing the course on 27 January 2021 with the 25th and final yacht to complete the race arrived on 5 March 2021.
Armel Tripon is a French sailor who finished 11th in the 2020–2021 Vendée Globe, sailing the first Scow-influenced IMOCA designed by first-time designer Samual Manard and built by Black Pepper Yachts.
Alan Roura is a Swiss professional sailor, born on 26 February 1993 in Onex (Switzerland). At the age of 23, in the 2016–2017 Vendée Globe which he finished in 12th place, he became the youngest competitor in the history of the event. In 2019, on La Fabrique, the second IMOCA of the name, he set a solo crossing of the North Atlantic on a 60-foot monohull crossing in a record time of 7 days, 16 hours, 58 minutes and 25 seconds. After 95 days at sea, he finished 17th in the 2020-2021 Vendée Globe. In October 2021, Alan Roura and his sponsors announced the purchase of a new IMOCA 60 for the Vendée Globe 2024: The ex hugo boss, a 2019 VPLP-Design previously owned by the British skipper Alex Thomson.
The 2016–2017 Vendée Globe was a non-stop solo Round the World Yacht Race for IMOCA 60 class yachts and the eighth edition of the race.
The 2012–2013 Vendée Globe was a non-stop solo Round the World Yacht Race for IMOCA 60 class yachts and the seventh edition of the race.
The 1996–1997 Vendée Globe was a non-stop round the world yacht race for IMOCA 50 and IMOCA 60 class yachts crewed by only one person. It was the third edition of the race, starting on 3 November 1996 from Les Sables-d'Olonne. The overall winner was Christophe Auguin who crossed the finish line on 17 February 1997 after a total time of 105 days, 20 hours and 31 minutes.
The 1992–1993 Vendée Globe was a non-stop solo Round the World Yacht Race for IMOCA 50 and IMOCA 60 class yachts, and started on the 22nd November 1992 from Les Sables-d'Olonne.
The 2024–2025 Vendée Globe is a non-stop round the world yacht race for IMOCA 60 class yachts crewed by only one person. It is the tenth edition of the race; it started, and will finish, in Les Sables-d'Olonne, France.
The IMOCA 60 class yacht Super Bigou designed by Pierre Rolland and launched in the year 2000. What makes the boat rare is that it was constructed by Bernard Stamm the boats original skipper and owner rather than an established yard.
The IMOCA 60 class yacht Sceta Calberson 4 was designed by Finot-Conq and launched in the 1994 after being built by JMV Industries based in Cherbourg, France.
The IMOCA 60 class yacht DCNS was designed by Finot-Conq and launched in the 2008 after being built at Multiplast shipyard in Vannes, with the deck made by the Larros shipyard in Arcachon.
The IMOCA 60 class yacht Hugo Boss 7 was designed by VPLP, Alex Thompson Racing and Gurit and launched in August 2019 after being built by Carrington Boats based in Hythe, England. The boat contained a number of innovative features and was the first IMOCA to have a fully enclosed cockpit. The hull form was also optimised for the semi-foiling nature of the class.
The IMOCA 60 class yacht L'Occitane en Provence, FRA 2, was designed by Sam Manuard and launched on the 31st January 2020 after being assembled by Black Pepper Yachts based in Nantes, France. Pauger Composites in Hungary did the hull moulding.
The IMOCA 60 class yacht Hugo Boss 2 was designed by Group Finot and launched in the 2007 after being built by Jason Carrington/Neville Hutton in Lymington, England.
The IMOCA 60 class yacht SODEBO savourons la vie, 25 was designed by Finot-Conq and launched in October 1998, after being made by Kirié in France. The boat was lost in 2016 while on charter to Richard Tolkien when he abandoned ship after suffering an injury to the head. The wreckage was found near Porto Rico.
The IMOCA 60 class racing yacht Groupe Bel was launched in 2007 to a design by VPLP and Guillaume Verdier and constructed by Indiana Yachting in Italy.
For People is an IMOCA 60 monohull sailing yacht, designed by Antoine Koch in cooperation with Finot-Conq, constructed by CDK Technologies in France, and launched on 16 March 2023. It is designed for the Vendée Globe 2024, a non-stop round-the-world solo race. It is skippered by the French offshore sailor Thomas Ruyant.
