Yann Guichard and his crew of 4 men finished in third place of the Krys Ocean Race prologue, a 120 miles regatta between Newport, Rhode Island, and New York City. Spindrift racing made the best out of the mild conditions off the coast of Long Island, leading the fleet all night long and until the very last miles. The 12 to 14 knots of north east winds soon gave way to lighter breeze as the MOD70 approached the mouth of the Hudson river. Tricky conditions reigned, with strong currents pressing Spindrift racing and Musandam – Oman sail towards the New Jersey shore, while Stève Ravussin and his Race for Water took advantage of this golden opportunity to stick to the Long Island shore and glide to victory just ahead of Groupe Edmond de Rothschild (Sébastien Josse).
Yann Guichard, soon after entering North Cove Marina in Manhattan, only had praises for his boat and his crew. “It’s been a great practice run. We’re delighted with our speed. We ran an almost perfect course, yet very demanding with lots of sails changes during the night.”
Spindrift racing could only rely on a 5 men crew for this prologue. Billy Besson did not participate. Frenchman and Multihull specialist Kevin Escoffier shall arrive tomorrow to take his place. “We are therefore quite tired but “happily tired” explains skipper Guichard, “Being short one man, we’ve had to work harder and the last miles in almost no wind at all were quite demanding. It took us over 8 hours to cover 30 miles!”
Once the finish line under the Verrazano bridge crossed, the 5 great MOD70s headed for Manhattan. An absolutely magic moment for the crews and for Yann Guichard to sail past the Statue of Liberty and discover the Big Apple from the sea ; “I’ve twice left New York by boat on my way to some transatlantic record” explains Guichard. “But this is the first time ever that I get to sail into New York harbor, and it is absolutely awesome.”
Spindrift racing shall Thursday July 5th take part of the New York speed match, a two boats speed race off Manhattan. With no damages or repairs on board, the team is more than ready for Saturday’s big start of the Krys Ocean race.