Drheam Cup / Grand Prix de France de Course au Large is ramping it up in 2024

Drheam Cup 2022 © Alexis Courcoux

The notice of race for the Drheam-Cup / Grand Prix De France De Course Au Large 2024 has just been published. The race between Cherbourg-en-Cotentin and La Trinité-sur-Mer will jump another hurdle in its fifth edition, as results will count towards the RORC Championship and it will be the second race in the IRC Two Handed European championship.

Nine months before the start of the fifth edition of La Drheam-Cup / Grand Prix De France De Course Au Large, the notice of race has been published, an opportunity to outline the main points of an event that will be held from 11 to 21 July 2024, with the start of the main race on Monday 15, from Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, heading towards La Trinité-sur-Mer. Like two years ago, three courses, DC600, DC1000, DC1500, will be organised for the eleven classes invited, including the Sun Fast 30 One Design, which has recently been presented and christened at Southampton Boat Show and the Grand Pavois in La Rochelle. The new One Design class designed by VPLP and built by Multiplast and Jeanneau will indeed be ranked separately.

It will not be the only innovation of next year's LA Drheam-Cup / Grand Prix De France De Course Au Large, which is continuing to cement its place as a major event in the international calendar, since it will be added to the 2024 RORC annual Championship.

Its French Vice-Commodore, Eric de Turckheim has confirmed this, and he will be taking the start in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin on board his NYMD 54 Teasing Machine on 15 July: "We brought the 2022 edition of LA Drheam-Cup / Grand Prix De France De Course Au Large into the RORC Calendar as it fulfilled our criteria, a great course, open to IRC, a Race Authority the meets the standards of the RORC and it does not run the same years as the Rolex Fastnet Race. Following that edition, we discussed with Debbie Fish, who will soon succeed me as head of the programme and race commission, to establish a number of conditions for LA DRHEAM-CUP / GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE DE COURSE DE COURSE AU LARGE to award points and enter the RORC Championship. This meant an audit of Sailing Instructions, safety, inspections of boats, etc. Jacques Civilise (president of Drheam-Promotion, organising the race) and his team met our demands, leading us to this decision to integrate the race into our Championship."

And there is more: The fifth Drheam-Cup / Grand Prix De France De Course Au Large, which, like the first, will most likely feature in the Racing Branch of the YACHT CLUB DE FRANCE / UNCL's 2024 programme, will also be the second leg of the second edition of the IRC Two Handed European Championship, organised in part by the RORC. "In 2024, the two events that will be included are Cowes-Dinard-Saint-Malo and La Drheam-Cup / Grand Prix De France De Course Au Large", states Eric de Turckheim.

this decision delights Kate Cope, head of the UK Double Handed Offshore Series, created in 2021 to promote two-handed racing in the UK and which incorporates several RORC races. "That LA Drheam-Cup / Grand Prix De France De Course Au Large is one of the two races chosen for the IRC Double European Championships is great news. Among the duos taking part in our series, many already want to take part, especially as they are familiar with the course. Boats based in the United Kingdom have already raced in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, as part of the RORC Programme and at the finish of the Rolex Fastnet Race. We know that the port has a very good reputation for organising events and offers a warm welcome to British crews. I have also been in touch with Jacques Civilise and his teams who have always worked hard to facilitate the logistics and participation of British boats in La Drheam-Cup / Grand Prix De France De Course Au Large."

It should welcome even more duos than in 2022; they will enjoy Cherbourg hospitality, as well as that of La Trinité-sur-Mer, one of the cradles of French offshore racing and rub shoulders with many professional skippers. This mix between amateur and professional sailors has been part of La Drheam-Cup / Grand Prix De France De Course Au Large's DNA since its first edition in 2016.

View the Notice of Race here.