Sail across the Atlantic on a cargo yacht from France
New transatlantic service takes around 15 days and will cost €2,000 to €3,000
The cargo sailing ships will cross the Atlantic
Ronan Gladu
A French company offering sail-powered cargo routes across the Atlantic is to take a limited number of passengers along too.
A formal schedule and prices will be revealed later this year, after 3,000 people contacted the firm out of the blue to ask about crossings.
TransOceanic Wind Transport (TOWT) has now received the second of a planned eight ships.
The twin-masted craft have a total length of 81m, including the bowspit.
As well as cargo holds designed to accommodate 1,000 pallets weighing around a tonne each, they also have six double cabins for passengers.
“It will take at least 15 days and even as long as 20 days to sail from Le Havre to New York, and the cabins are not luxurious – there is no pool or anything like that,” TOWT manager Gabin Ernoult told The Connexion.
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Experience of a lifetime
“But for most people it will be an experience of a lifetime and it means they will be able to cross the Atlantic without flying.”
Mr Ernoult expects prices to be in the range of €2,000 to €3,000 per person, potentially with discounts if passengers return to France with the company as well.
“With our new ship we will start landing every month in New York in 2025. As the other ships start being delivered, we will probably also add routes to the French Caribbean islands, Colombia and Brazil,” Mr Ernoult said.
The first ship of the series was built in Romania, before production was moved to Vietnam.
The carbon-fibre masts are made in France and then shipped out to Vietnam, so that the ship can be sailed back to France on a maiden voyage to shake out any problems.
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Prices for sail cargo
Prices for cargo are more expensive than shipping goods across the Atlantic on a container ship, but lower than for air freight, said Mr Ernoult.
Each ship has between seven and nine crew members and will sail under the French flag.
Most of the crew are expected to be graduates of the École Nationale Supérieure Maritime, the state-funded school that trains marine officers, engineers and deck crew.
The ships are designed so that some trimming of sails can be done from a cockpit, but for most manoeuvres the crew will have to be on deck.
“The company has been going since 2011, experimenting with different models including renting ships,” said Mr Ernoult.
“Gradually, we have built up our expertise and found a model for low-carbon transport which we are sure will work.”
Cargoes are likely to include luxury goods, wines and spirits, tea, coffee and chocolate as well as more diverse items such as electronics from French telecoms company Orange, and aeronautic parts from Airbus.
The first regular New York runs, all of which will follow the southern ‘great circle’ route past the Canary Islands, will be done with just four passengers.
