Photo: ©JEAN-MARIE LIOT / DPPI / MACIF
The finishers in the 2016 Transat bakerly single-handed trans-Atlantic race are now arriving in Brooklyn. This year’s winner, Francois Gabart on the 100′ trimaran MACIF, crossed the finish line on Wednesday, in the near record time of 8 days, 8 hours, 54-minutes and 39-seconds. The Transat bakerly began in 1960 as the OSTAR, the Observer Singlehanded Trans-Atlantic Race. The first race winner was Francis Chichester in Gypsy Moth III, who took 40 days, 12 hours and 30 minutes to complete the race.
This year, Thomas Coville, sailing his Ultime trimaran Sodebo, was close astern Gabart with a time of eight days, 18 hours and 32 minutes. Yves Le Blevec on the trimaran Actual crossed the line on Friday after 10 days, 12 hours 15 min, 59 seconds. Three of the racers are now tied up in the Atlantic Basin near the historic tanker Mary Whalen.
To put these passage times in context, the average westerly passage across the Atlantic in a sailing packet ship in the first half of the 19th century was around 40 days although could often extend to 60 or even 90 days depending on the season and the wind. The shortest westerly passage under sail was made by the clipper ship Red Jacket in 1854 at 13 days 1 hour 25 mins, dock to dock.
While the leads have set near record times, not all in this year’s race are having an easy go of it. British sailor Richard Tolkien abandoned his IMOCA 60, 44, after being injured in a rig failure. He was picked up by a passing ship. Also Franco-German sailor Isabelle Joschke discovered a crack in the hull near the bow area of her Class40 yacht, Generali-Horizon Mixité and has withdrawn from the race. Lalou Roucayrol on board his trimaran Arkema reports a broken daggerboard, but is still expected to carry on.
Traditionally, the primary sponsor assumes naming rights to the race. The first race sponsor was the Observer newspaper. This year’s partnering sponsor is bakerly, a French snack company with operations in the UK and plans on expanding to the US. They apparently choose not to capitalize their corporate name.