Tour de France à la voile is an annual yachting

Yachting

Yachting refers to recreational sailing or boating, the specific act of sailing or using other water vessels for sporting purposes.-Competitive sailing:...

 race around the coast of France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. Inaugurated in 1978, it links the English Channel

English Channel

The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...

 to the French Riviera

French Riviera

The Côte d'Azur, pronounced , often known in English as the French Riviera , is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco...

 and is held in July.

Famous skippers have taken part in the race, including Loïck Peyron

Loïck Peyron

Loïck Peyron, born 1 December 1959 in Nantes, is a French yachtsman, younger brother of the yachtsman Bruno Peyron.He is particularly famous for winning many races in the 1990s on board his trimaran Fujicolor...

 and the four time America's Cup

America's Cup

The America’s Cup is a trophy awarded to the winner of the America's Cup match races between two yachts. One yacht, known as the defender, represents the yacht club that currently holds the America's Cup and the second yacht, known as the challenger, represents the yacht club that is challenging...

 winner Russell Coutts

Russell Coutts

Sir Russell Coutts, KNZM, CBE is a competitive sailor. His achievements include a Gold medal in the Finn Class in the 1984 Olympic Games, winning the America's Cup four times, the ISAF World Youth championships, three World Match Racing Championships, numerous international match race wins and...

. The race is, however, not reserved for professionals, and it also attracts amateurs and students thanks to three distinct rankings.

The race visits around ten harbours along the French coast. It includes one or two day coastal stages - that vary from year to year - as well as intensive regattas at the various ports. The boats are transported by road (trucks) midway through the race from stages held in the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

 to those in the Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

.

Sailboat

Every team sails on the same type of boat so that only the sailing skills of the teams are judged and not the boat engineering. The boats are about 10m long and are designed for racing with a crew of 7-8 sailors. A few boats replaced each other since the creation of the race:

• Écume de mer
• First 30
• Rush Royale
• Sélection
• JOD 35
• 1999 - 2010 Mumm 30 / Farr 30
  Farr 30 (yacht)
  The Farr 30 / Mumm 30 was designed by Farr Yacht Design led by Bruce Farr the first boat was built by Carrol Marine and first launched in 1995. The class is recognised by the International Sailing Federation.-History:...
  
  
• 2011 Onwards M34

List of previous winners

Year	Boat Type	Boat Name	Skipper
1978	-	Marseille	François Paillou
1979	-	Dunkerque	Joé Setten
1980	-	Dunkerque	Damien Savatier
1981	-	Dunkerque	Damien Savatier
1982	-	Marseille	Jean-Paul Mouren
1983	-	Lanvéoc-Navale	Benoît Caignaert
1984	-	Europe	Philippe Hanin et Dominique d’Andrimont
1985	-	Côtes du Nord	Yannick Dupetit
1986	-	Le Havre	Benoît Caignaert
1987	-	Sète-Languedoc-Roussillon	Pierre Mas et Bertrand Pacé
1988	-	Sète-Languedoc-Roussillon	Pierre Mas et Bertrand Pacé
1989	-	Ronic Saône-et-Loire	Richard Sautieux
1990	-	Wasquehal	Hans Bousholte et Philippe Delhumeau
1991	-	La Ciotat	Laurent Delage
1992	-	Sodifac-Roubaix	Jimmy Pahun et Jean-Pierre Dick
1993	-	Saint-Quentin-en Yvelines	Thierry Péponnet Thierry Peponnet Thierry Peponnet is a French sailor and Olympic champion.He won a gold medal in the 470 Class at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, together with Luc Pillot. They received bronze medals in 1984.-References:...
1994	-	Saint-Pierre et Miquelon	Alain Fédensieu
1995	-	Baume & Mercier – Force EDC-Paris	Bernard Mallaret
1996	-	Edouard Leclerc – Région SCASO	Vincent Fertin
1997	-	CSC - Sun Microsystems	Bertrand Pacé et Philippe Guigné
1998	-	Nantes & Saint-Nazaire - Bouygues Telecom	Luc Pillot Luc Pillot Luc Pillot is a French sailor and Olympic champion.He won a gold medal in the 470 Class at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, together with Thierry Peponnet. They received bronze medals in 1984....
1999	Farr 30 Farr 30 (yacht) The Farr 30 / Mumm 30 was designed by Farr Yacht Design led by Bruce Farr the first boat was built by Carrol Marine and first launched in 1995. The class is recognised by the International Sailing Federation.-History:...	Kateie	Luc Dewulf
2000	Farr 30 Farr 30 (yacht) The Farr 30 / Mumm 30 was designed by Farr Yacht Design led by Bruce Farr the first boat was built by Carrol Marine and first launched in 1995. The class is recognised by the International Sailing Federation.-History:...	Barlo Plastics	Adrian Stead
2001	Farr 30 Farr 30 (yacht) The Farr 30 / Mumm 30 was designed by Farr Yacht Design led by Bruce Farr the first boat was built by Carrol Marine and first launched in 1995. The class is recognised by the International Sailing Federation.-History:...	Virbac - St Raphaël - Générali	Jean-Pierre Dick
2002	Farr 30 Farr 30 (yacht) The Farr 30 / Mumm 30 was designed by Farr Yacht Design led by Bruce Farr the first boat was built by Carrol Marine and first launched in 1995. The class is recognised by the International Sailing Federation.-History:...	Nantes St Nazaire	Pierre-Loïc Bethet
2003	Farr 30 Farr 30 (yacht) The Farr 30 / Mumm 30 was designed by Farr Yacht Design led by Bruce Farr the first boat was built by Carrol Marine and first launched in 1995. The class is recognised by the International Sailing Federation.-History:...	CapSport	Xavier Lecœur et Bernard Mallaret
2004	Farr 30 Farr 30 (yacht) The Farr 30 / Mumm 30 was designed by Farr Yacht Design led by Bruce Farr the first boat was built by Carrol Marine and first launched in 1995. The class is recognised by the International Sailing Federation.-History:...	Bouygues Telecom	Pierre Loïc Berthet
2005	Farr 30 Farr 30 (yacht) The Farr 30 / Mumm 30 was designed by Farr Yacht Design led by Bruce Farr the first boat was built by Carrol Marine and first launched in 1995. The class is recognised by the International Sailing Federation.-History:...	Toulon Provence Méditerranée COYCHyères	Fabien Henry
2006	Farr 30 Farr 30 (yacht) The Farr 30 / Mumm 30 was designed by Farr Yacht Design led by Bruce Farr the first boat was built by Carrol Marine and first launched in 1995. The class is recognised by the International Sailing Federation.-History:...	Région Île de France	Jean-Pierre Nicol
2007	Farr 30 Farr 30 (yacht) The Farr 30 / Mumm 30 was designed by Farr Yacht Design led by Bruce Farr the first boat was built by Carrol Marine and first launched in 1995. The class is recognised by the International Sailing Federation.-History:...	Toulon Provence Méditerranée COYCHyères	Fabien Henry
2008	Farr 30 Farr 30 (yacht) The Farr 30 / Mumm 30 was designed by Farr Yacht Design led by Bruce Farr the first boat was built by Carrol Marine and first launched in 1995. The class is recognised by the International Sailing Federation.-History:...	Courrier Dunkerque	Daniel Souben
2009	Farr 30 Farr 30 (yacht) The Farr 30 / Mumm 30 was designed by Farr Yacht Design led by Bruce Farr the first boat was built by Carrol Marine and first launched in 1995. The class is recognised by the International Sailing Federation.-History:...	Courrier Dunkerque	Daniel Souben
2010	Farr 30 Farr 30 (yacht) The Farr 30 / Mumm 30 was designed by Farr Yacht Design led by Bruce Farr the first boat was built by Carrol Marine and first launched in 1995. The class is recognised by the International Sailing Federation.-History:...	Nouvelle-Calédonie	Bertrand Pacé et Vincent Portugal
2011	M34	-	-
2012	M34	-	-