Highly satisfied with the Fastnet mission: "Malizia" skipper Boris Herrmann
At first things didn't look so good for Boris Herrmann and Pierre Casiraghi. With their Imoc "Malizia", like so many other boats of the youngest generation of foiling, they had problems with the high upwind portion of the course towards Fastnet rocks at the start of the Fastnet. But things went better on the way back to Plymouth. With an impressive final spurt, the German-Monegasque duo even made it onto the podium.
"It started with a very long cross", reported Boris Herrmann YACHT online on Wednesday morning, "that is just not going so well for the new foilers. See yeah 'Hugo Boss', who found it so difficult. But we were able to move on work forward. Before the race, Pierre was only on the boat for about seven or eight hours. He did a great job. " Paul Meilhat's "SMA" won the Imocas race ahead of "Malizia's" sister ship "St. Michel-Virbac". Co-favorite Alex Thomson came in eighth in the British classic on "Hugo Boss" in the field of nine boats. The winning time of the "SMA" was 2 days, 16 hours, 14 minutes and 2 seconds. A good one and a half hours later, Herrmann and Casiraghi had also reached their destination. "It was a good start to an important year for us," said Herrmann.
In Class 40, "StellNova" worked its way up to 11th place in the field of 24 boats overnight. In the overall IRC standings, the crews on "Outsider" and "Varuna" in fifth and sixth place are fighting to catch up with the top group, and continue to put pressure on them. Meanwhile, the thrilling battles for positions of the VO65 yachts have been decided: Charles Caudrelier's Dongfeng Race Team prevailed after a rollercoaster ride through the list of results and secured victory with less than a minute ahead of the Spanish "Mapfre". Another six and a half minutes later, Bouwe Bekking's team Brunel had crossed the finish line. The thrilling struggle of the top trio for the podium was more than a promise for an exciting 2017/18 Volvo Ocean Race.
The last seconds of the criminally thrilling finish of the VO-65 yachts. Charles Caudrelier's Dongfeng Race Team beats the Spanish team Mapfre by less than a minute. Caudrelier's relieved comment: "Thank you guys!". He also loves the two women on board - Carolijn Brouwer and Marie Riou
Charles Caudrelier's Dongfeng Race Team has rounded the Fastnet rock. Carolijn Brouwer was there
As expected, the top favorite "Rambler 88" secured the "Line Honors" for monohull yachts. George David's bullet completed the classic 605 nautical mile course in 2 days, 9 hours, 34 minutes and 21 seconds.
Here you can find the tracker, the intermediate status and the results.
"Rambler 88" won the "Line Honors" as the favorite for the monohull yachts