Historic sailing race The Transat ditches Plymouth for France

Plymouth has hosted the start of the race since 1960

A 60-year-old transatlantic sailing race will no longer start in the UK, after organisers decided to move the event to France.

The Transat, founded by Herbert "Blondie" Hasler in 1960, is a 3,500-nautical mile race to North America.

Taking place every four years, it has previously started in Plymouth, ending in various locations in the USA.

The 2020 event will start in Brest in northern Brittany, as organisers look to "secure the future of the race".

Plymouth City Council said it was "massively disappointed" with the decision, saying it won a bid to host the race in 2017.

"Two years of planning - and a tradition spanning almost 60 years of hosting this race - has been cast aside," a council spokesman said.

The 1960 race was completed in 40 days, although modern sailors can complete it in as little as eight days

The Transat claims to be the "first and oldest single-handed transatlantic race", with some entrants spending weeks at sea as they look to cross the Atlantic ocean.

Each of the previous 14 editions of the race have started in Plymouth, and finished in cities such as New York, Boston and Newport.

Event organiser OC Sport said it was looking for "innovative ways to secure the future of The Transat", adding that the French public were particularly engaged with offshore sailing.

"Staging the start from Brest is a real opportunity for our sponsors and the teams to capitalise on this captive audience and we expect it to open up many new commercial opportunities," said OC Sport CEO Hervé Favre.

"I'd like to thank Plymouth for their support of the race up until this point," he added.

The council said it was considering its options, and would continue to support the development of Plymouth's sailing events.

It added the Original Single-handed Transatlantic Race (OSTAR) and the Fastnet Race were unaffected.