Space tech onboard transatlantic racer   The yacht ProForm due to participate in the Transat Jacques Vabre race in November 2005, is powered by three technologies transferred from European space programmes: more efficient than standard available solar cells for generating electricity, lighter batteries for electricy storage, and an energy power management system for its optimal use.   The navigator Marc Thiercelin signs, on 6 October 2005 in Paris, the official poster of the Jacques Vabre Transatlantic sailing contest. The double-handed race for 50- and 60-foot monohull and multihull yachts starts 5-6 November 2005 from Le Havre, France, finishing in Salvador de Bahia in Brazil, some 4340 nautical miles away.   Marc Thiercelin's Pro-Form yacht boasts lighter batteries, more efficient solar cells and an advanced energy management system - all spin-offs from Europe's space programmes.   Eric Drouglazet, 37, will sail with Marc Thiercelin, 45, in the Transat Jacques Vabre race in November 2005. Drouglazet has been sailing competitively since 1996. In 2004 he came seventh together with Marc Thiercelin in the Transat AG2R race from Lorient in Brittany, France, to St. Barthélemy in the West Indies.   Thiercelin crossing the stormy Atlantic in the 2004 Transat race` Space tech third time at sea     European industry has provided to Marc Thiercelin's 60-foot ProForm yacht three advanced technologies, all spin-offs from European space programmes made available through ESA's Technology Transfer Programme: lighter batteries, more efficient solar cells and an advanced energy management system.   The Transat Jacques Vabre international sailing race that starts on Saturday 5 November 2005 from Le Havre, France, crosses the Atlantic Ocean to end in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. After leaving Le Havre the two-man crews will first traverse the busy English Channel. They will then head southwards across the fearsome Bay of Biscay. It will take three to five days of tough sailing before the trade winds can be found, then the long surf towards the southern hemisphere can start. The multihulls (catamarans and trimarans) have to sail around Ascension Island before heading west toward Bahia while the monohulls can go directly across the Atlantic. Crossing the ocean at a speed of over 17 knots for the 60-foot multihulls and nearly 12 knots for the 60-foot monohulls, after about a fortnight at sea the competitors should reach the finishing line outside the harbour of Salvador de Bahia in Brazil. In 2003 the fastest 60-foot multihull made it in just less than 12 days, while the fastest 60-foot monohull concluded in 17 days 15 hours.   Marc Thiercelin’s ProForm will compete in the Jacques Vabre 2005 international transatlantic sailing race from Le Havre in France to Salvador de Bahia in Brazil. His boat has been equipped with three space-derived technologies: more efficient solar cells, lighter batteries and a management system for optimising the charging and usage of the batteries. Release date: 17 January 2007