At 23:40 local time on the 7th December, Renaud Mary approached the pontoon to the gradually increasing beat of drums. The noise was reverberating everywhere and had everybody's heart rate up in anticipation. Gradually Renaud popped around from the stern of a boat, and the celebrations broke lose! Renaud had finished 4th in the Series class sailing his Pogo 2.
Two hours later, Annabelle Boudinot (791) took 9th in the prototype class, having had a close battle with Michele Zambelli (342) for the past few days. For Michele's arrival just minutes later, we ensured the pontoon was especially crowded with girls; we thought this might please him even more than the fact that he'd just finished 10th in the prototype class! He was given a present - boxers and a hat emblazoned with 'Merry Christmas', just to top his finish off in style.
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| Michele's boat |
I spent the rest of the evening with Michele and his Italian supporters, enjoying some pasta at 3am to keep us going; we were back at the boats by 5.15 am this morning, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the second Italian, Alberto Bona (Onelinesim.it). I got to go out for a speedy ride on the rib, where we met Alberto just off the Ile de Gosier.
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| The crowd disperses and it is just the four of us eagerly awaiting the arrival of Alberto at some unsociable hour in the very early morning. |
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| The sun begins to rise... |
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The Minis become visible along the pontoon just before we get into the RIB
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| Michele looks on proudly as fellow Italian, Alberto, approaches the finish |
Alberto crossed the line at 7.31 am, after 25 days and 2 hours at sea. Finishing 5th in the Series class, the picture below shows just how happy he was!
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| Alberto, close to tears; an emotional moment |
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| Safe sailing on approach to the finish |
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| Just about to cross the line, complete with rainbow |
Tanguy Le Turquais (599) was close behind, and we got to cheer him on over the line too. Tanguy finished just 10 minutes behind Alberto to take 6th in the Series class. Having been in Rome when Tanguy gained the last race miles required to qualify for the Transat, to see him today finishing the race was truly fantastic!
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| GO TANGUY! |
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| post-race interview |
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Cheering for the arrival of Alan (Navman, 284)
After Tanguy it was Jean-Baptiste Lemaire to finish 7th in the Series class, arriving at 0800. Just 20 seconds later Alan Roura (Navman) crossed the line, 11th prototype! With his family there having just arrived by their sailing catamaran, it must have been an amazing feeling for him.
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| Oops...bit of a splash in the excitement! |
1 hour 20 minutes later, Jerome d'Aboville finished as 8th boat in the Series class. We are now awaiting the arrival of Damian Audrain (745) and Craig Horsefield (587), both in the series division- with Craig expected to finish at 15.30 local time I am hoping to make it back down to greet him. Pip Hare is now just over 170 miles away, so it won't be long until our sole British entrant finishes the race too!
