- Title: French skipper Gabart takes honors in solo TransAtlantic race
- Date: 11th May 2016
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (MAY 10, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MACIF AT SEA AS IT CROSSES FINISH OF TRANSAT BAKERLY OUTSIDE NEW YORK HARBOR MACIF SAILS INTO VERRAZANO STRAIGHTS AND UNDER VERRAZANO BRIDGE INTO NEW YORK HARBOR FRANCOIS GABART ON DECK OF MACIF NEW YORK SKYLINE IN FRONT OF MACIF AS IT SAILS INTO HARBOUR MACIF SAILS PAST STATUE OF LIBERTY GABART SPRAYS CHAMPAGNE AFTER REACHING PORT GABART SPEAKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRANCOIS GABART SAYING: "It was a challenge for me because I don't have experience of actually sailing on a boat like this and I was learning everything. And I learned a lot during the training session before the race and I still learned during the race. I did a good job in the end and I'm really happy and proud of what I did." MORE OF GABART SPEAKING TO REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRANCOIS GABART SAYING [ROUGH TRANSLATION]: "I'm really happy. I'm, of course, really happy. . . Yes, I'm happy to have won the race. The weather was exceptional. The days were long but also extraordinary and I did well. And when I arrived and and won the race ahead of the other competitors, really, life is good."
- Embargoed: 26th May 2016 06:30
- Keywords: sailing Transat Bakerly solo Atlantic crossing trimaran Francois Gabart
- Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Sport,Yachting / Sailing
- Reuters ID: LVA0014HD3NSV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Frenchman Francois Gabart completed his first solo win on board his new 100ft (30m) trimaran, Macif, on Tuesday (May 10) when he crossed the finish line of The Transat Bakerly off New York.
The 33-year-old Frenchman, who in 2013 became the youngest ever winner of the Vendee Globe solo round-the-world race, sailed a brilliant race from Plymouth, covering the official distance of 3,050 nautical miles (5648.6 km) in 8 days, 8 hours, 54 minutes and 39 seconds. He narrowly missed out on a new race record, which was set by Michel Desjoyeaux in 2004, and still stands at a time of 8 days, 8 hours, 29 minutes.
Gabart actually sailed a total distance of 4,634 miles (8582.1 km) at an average speed of 23.11 knots (42.7 km/h) in a remarkable voyage that, unusually for The Transat Bakerly, took him and his close rival Thomas Coville on Sodebo, hundreds of miles south of the Azores into the tradewinds before sling-shotting northwest up to New York.
His beautiful blue, white and yellow Van Peteghem Lauriot-Prevost-designed multihull, in which Gabart hopes to set a new outright solo round-the-world record, reached the finish at 18:24 local time (2224GMT) in New York, as recorded by the Sandy Hook Pilot Association boat, with its jubilant skipper waving to his team support boat as he crossed the line.
After sailing into New York harbor at sunset, Gabart reflected on a race that, for much of the time, saw him in close company with Coville on the older Sodebo. For the first three days the two skippers were never more than a few miles apart, having crossed the Bay of Biscay in sight of each other.
"I'm happy to have won the race. The weather was exceptional. The days were long but also extraordinary and I did well. And when I arrived and and won the race ahead of the other competitors, really, life is good," said Gabart.
"It was a challenge for me because I don't have experience of actually sailing on a boat like this and I was learning everything. And I learned a lot during the training session before the race and I still learned during the race. I did a good job in the end and I'm really happy and proud of what I did," he added.
The Big Apple has only been used once before in the race as the finish port and that was in the very first edition in 1960 when the winner, one Sir Francis Chichester on the monohull Gipsy Moth III, was at sea for 40 days, 12 hours 30 minutes. Sailing a multihull from a different century, Gabart was 32 days, 3 hours and 36 minutes quicker than the British legend.
As Gabart crossed the line Coville was still some 118nm from the finish while the third-placed trimaran in the Ultime class - Actual skippered by Yves Le Blevec - was still 509.6nm away.
For the other classes in the fleet, the finish line is still over 800 miles away. Armel Le Cleac'h (Banque Populaire) continues to lead the IMOCA 60 fleet with an anticipated arrival time of 19:00 local time on Friday. Vincent Riou on PRB is 76 miles behind and still hot on his stern.
In the four-boat Multi50 class, Gilles Lamiré (Frenchtech Rennes St Malo) is continuing to extend his lead, with a 219 mile advantage between him and the chasing Lalou Roucayrol (Arkema).
Trading places at the top of the Class40 fleet is Isabelle Joschke (Generali-Horizon Mixité) and Thibaut Vauchel-Camus (Solidaires en Peloton-Arsep), with Joschke currently holding a six-mile advantage.
Earlier on Tuesday Armel Tripon on Black Pepper announced his retirement from The Transat bakerly, after he sustained damage in the week's earlier storms, leaving eight Class40s now en route to the Big Apple.
TRANSAT BAKERLY RESULTS:
ULTIME
1. Francois Gabart/Macif - Finished after 8 days, 8 hours, 54 minutes and 39 seconds
2. Thomas Coville/Sodebo - 88.21nm from the finish
3. Yves Le Blevec/Actual - 504.50nm from the finish
IMOCA 60
1. Armel Le Cleac'h/Banque Populaire - 857.2nm from the finish
2. Vincent Riou/PRB - 76.10nm from the leader
3. Jean-Pierre Dick/St Michel Virbac - 182.74nm from the leader
MULTI50
1. Gilles Lamire/French Tech Rennes St Malo - 950nm from the finish
2. Lalou Roucayrol/Arkema - 219.62nm from the leader
3. Pierre Antoine/Olmix - 415.94nm from the leader
CLASS40
1. Isabelle Joschke/Generali Horizon Mixite - 1421.3nm from the finish
2. Thibaut Vauchel-Camus/Solidaires en Peloton - ARSEP - 6.60nm from the leader
3. Phil Sharp/Imerys - 18.59nm from the leader - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None