At 1.31pm and 20 sec (7.31 pm and 20 sec, French time), this Monday, July 3rd, 2017, the MACIF maxi-multihull crossedthe finishing line of the Centennial Transat under the Verrazano-Narrows bridge in New York Bay, a 100% ultimate trimarans race, celebrating 100 years of friendship between the France and the United States, as part of THE BRIDGE.
A collective success
After 8 days 31 min and 20 sec of racing since the start on Sunday, June 25th, at 7 pm, under the Saint-Nazaire bridge, François Gabart , and his five-man crew - Pascal Bidégorry, William best, Antoine Gautier, Benedict Mary and Yann Riou - performed a collective victory on a unique race of 3 152 miles (5 840 km) full of history across the Atlantic from East to West. They have actually sailed 3 582 miles on a 18,61 knots average against the prevailing winds.
A victory of high symbolic value
Although the six men could not compete on their fabulous yacht against the Queen Mary 2, the steel giant of 345 meters long and figurehead of the event, their transat win of high symbolic value following the traces of the American landing in 1917, is well deserved. After a crossing mainly fought against the headwinds, François Gabart and his crew won against two serious and tough competitors, IDEC SPORT (Francis Joyon), Sodebo Ultim' (Thomas Coville), themselves followed by Actual (Yves Le Blevec).
Never two without three...
François Gabart, who has already won in duet the Transat Jacques Vabre in 2015, the English Transat (The Transat-bakerly) last year in solo, and wins another one on board his giant of sails. At 34 years old, he adds a line to his impressive record. Now, he is enjoying their collective win alongside his crew, of this unique race which did not allow any mistakes between Saint-Nazaire and New York.
