The
Transat - Hot Competition At The Start
Grey
skies, rain that varied from drizzle to torrential
and a brisk 20 knot wind were the conditions the
37 competitors taking part in The Transat enjoyed
as the historical single-handed race the 'wrong
way' across the North Atlantic got underway at
1400BST today from Plymouth Sound.
The
first casualty prior to the start was Yves Parlier's
new catamaran Médiatis Région Aquitaine
who returned to port at 1230 her skipper reporting
that there was a problem with his boat's autopilot
system. Some water had seeped into the electrics,
but after 20 minutes of intense work by Parlier's
shore team, the radical catamaran was heading
out to the race course again.
Also
before the start Alain Gautier's Foncia was forced
to return to Plymouth Yacht Haven with a broken
fitting in her rudder system. This was rapidly
fixed by her shore team who sent her on her way
at 1640.
Watched
by a sizeable spectator fleet braving the bleak
conditions, the fleet started simultaneously,
but on a line divided in three with the ORMA 60
multihulls the furthest east, the IMOCA Open 60
monohulls in the middle and the 50s westernmost,
close to Penlee Point. Marking the divide between
ORMA and IMOCA fleets was the Committee Boat,
the Royal Navy's HMS Tyne. From on board here
the start gun was fired by Omega ambassador, Anna
Kournikova accompanied by the 2000 monohull winner
Ellen MacArthur who had taken the Russian tennis
star and sailing earlier this morning.
Hot
competition in the monohull fleet saw five boats
over the line prior to the start including Conrad
Humphreys on Hellomoto and Nick Moloney on Skandia.
The first non-premature starter was Swiss Around
Alone race winner Bernard Stamm sailing Cheminees
Poujoulat-Armor Lux.
Meanwhile
on the multihull start line Marc Guillemot's Gitana
X was penalised for a start line infringement
and the first boats legally across were race favourites
Franck Cammas' Groupama and Vendée Globe
winner Michel Desjoyeaux on Geant.
The
first mark of the course was the Eddystone Light
eight miles south of the start line. Despite a
lightning performance by Marc Guillemot's Gitana
X she was beaten to the Eddystone by Michel Desjoyeaux's
Geant. Gitana X was forced to stop off the Eddystone
for 40 minutes as penalty for her premature start.
Among
the Open 60 monohulls there was a breakneck fight
between New Zealand skipper Mike Sanderson on
Pindar AlphaGraphics and Mike Golding's Ecover.
In the end Golding edged ahead by a nose and was
first round. Like Desjoyeaux, Golding wins an
Omega Seamaster watch for arriving first in his
class. Omega will be awarding watches to the skipper
who sets the 24-hour record and to each class
winner on arrival in Boston.
Since
the start race veteran Mike Birch has chosen to
bring his boat back into Plymouth to make repairs
to his autopilot. The sistership to his trimaran
Nootka, Great American II of Boston-based skipper
Rich Wilson has also returned with a broken main
halyard.
The
latest positions show Michel Desjoyeaux's Geant
leading the multihulls and Mike Sanderson on Pindar
AlphaGraphics first in the monohulls.
For latest information on The Transat, please
go to: http://www.thetransat.com
