Brits shine in storn tossed TJV race
Storms Ciaran and Domingos lashed the Atlantic coast in late October and wrought havoc on the carefully laid plans of the race organisers responsible for ensuring a clean start for the biannual Transat Jacques Vabre. These two brutal storms delayed the start with only the giant Ultim class got away cleanly and blazed a trail south away from the weather systems down to Cape Verde, across to the Brazilian coast and then northwards to Martinique. In the end it was the hugely experienced team of Armel le Cleac’h and Sebastien Josse who prevailed in the Ultim class with their Banque Populaire XI taking line honours.
UK interest was most prominent in the IMOCA class where the British/French team of Samto third place with Sam Davies and Jack Bouttell taking fifth in Initiatives Coeur. Neither could catch defending IMOCA champions Thomas Ruyant and Morgan Lagraviere who scooped first onMeanwhile Pip Hare and Nick Bubb’s were obliged to gamble by going further north after a penalty on the start line. The gamble did not fully pay off, with those who gambled getting battered by headwinds, but Medallia picked up a respectable 12th place. Veteran racer Mike Golding, who was mentoring Jingkun Xu was well down the fleet.
