Twenty nine boats and a moggy complete Transatlantic Race<\/p>\n
Published on August 14, 2015 by admin \u00a0\u00a0\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0 No Comments<\/p>\n
Among the finishers of the 30th Transatlantic Race were 14-year-old Breana Rath, her dad Colin, and Wasabi the family cat who completed the 2,800 miles on their liveaboard Hanse 55 aptly named \u2018Persevere\u2019.<\/p>\n
The Race started on 28 June 2015 when the first 13 boats set off from the New York Yacht Club in Newport, Rhode Island, to race across the Atlantic.<\/p>\n
It was the first of three starting dates for the 34 boats participating.<\/p>\n
A further 21 set off on 1 July, including Sir Robin Knox-Johnston sailing his Open 60 \u2018Grey Power\u2019.<\/p>\n
The four fastest boats; \u2018Comanche\u2019, \u2018Rambler\u2019, \u2018Phaedo 3\u2019 and \u2018Paradox\u2019, left the New World behind them a day after Independence Day on the 5th.<\/p>\n
There was a definite animal theme to the locations this year \u2013 the start was just west of Goat Island and the competitors crossed the finishing line at the Lizard before they headed to the closing parties at Cowes.<\/p>\n
However, whales were avoided with the fleet sailing south of the Right Whale Critical Habitat area of Nantucket and then east to avoid the unusually large and widespread collection of icebergs on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland before finally heading north to the Great Circle Route.<\/p>\n
The Transatlantic Race has a long history, the first Race set off on 11 December 1866 at the Sandy Hook Lightship in New York Harbour with only three participants.<\/p>\n
After 3,000 miles of sailing, all three finished the Race within hours of each other \u2013 reaching the finish line at Cowes on Christmas Day.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s Race was organised by the Royal Yacht Squadron, the New York Yacht Club, the Royal Ocean Racing Club and the Storm Trysail Club. Of the 34 starters only 29 made it to the finish line.<\/p>\n
Two boats, \u2018Brigand\u2019 and \u2018Altair\u2019, suffered early technical issues and limped back to Newport. A further three boats, \u2018Amhas\u2019 (sustained mast damage), \u2018Shearwater\u2019 (retired due to rigging problems), and \u2018Solution\u2019 (rudder damage \u2013 clearly no solution found) \u2013 all successfully reached Horta in the Azores.<\/p>\n
First past the post happened to coincide with the winner in this year\u2019s race.<\/p>\n
Bryon Ehrhart\u2019s Reichel\/Pugh 63 \u2018Lucky\u2019 was the first boat in the Transatlantic Race 2015 to cross the finish line at the Lizard and also pipped all the others under the IRC handicap to win the race overall. \u2018Lucky\u2019 (by name and by nature) took 8 days 22 hours 5 minutes and 3 seconds to complete the 2,800-mile crossing.<\/p>\n
Lloyd Thornburg\u2019s MOD70 trimaran \u2018Phaedo 3\u2019 was the fastest multihull in a time of 7 days 2 hours and 4 minutes.<\/p>\n
Jim Clark and Kristy Hinze-Clark\u2019s 100ft maxi \u2018Comanche\u2019 recorded the fastest monohull crossing in 7 days 11 hours and 35 minutes. Impressively, during the race, \u2018Comanche\u2019 broke the record for distance travelled in a 24-hour run with a distance of 618.01 miles.<\/p>\n
But the Race isn\u2019t all about the podium places, the last boat to round the Lizard was \u2018Persevere\u2019. After problems with rigging they had to revisit Newport and missed a crucial weather window. They returned to the race as soon as they could but still finished in 17 days 8 hours and 28 minutes.<\/p>\n
So congratulations to all the winners, well done to all those that finished, and a pat on the head and a bowl of cream to Wasabi the Transatlantic cat.<\/p>\n
via Twenty nine boats and a moggy complete Transatlantic Race\u00a0|\u00a0MarinaLive Gibraltar<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Twenty nine boats and a moggy complete Transatlantic Race Published on August 14, 2015 by admin \u00a0\u00a0\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0 No Comments Among the finishers of the 30th Transatlantic Race were 14-year-old Breana Rath, her dad Colin, and Wasabi the family cat who … Continue reading