Betreff: LE DEFI: MOLONEY FINISHES DEFI ATLANTIQUE RACE & QUALIFIES FOR 2004 VENDÉE GLOBE...
Absender: "Team Cowes"
Datum: 17. Dec 2003 18:17
LE DEFI: MOLONEY FINISHES DEFI ATLANTIQUE RACE & QUALIFIES FOR 2004 VENDÉE GLOBE...
TEAM COWES Le Défi Atlantique campaign is supported by Skandia and Cowes Waterfront
IN BRIEF:
* TEAM COWES FINISHES SOLO DEFI ATLANTIQUE RACE AND QUALIFIES MOLONEY FOR 2004 VENDÉE GLOBE... Moloney crossed the line at 15:50:50 GMT in 5th place completing the race course in 17 days, 50 minutes, 50 seconds...
* AFTER 16 DAYS OF SOLO RACING ACROSS THE ATLANTIC ONLY A FEW HOURS SEPARATED FRONT RUNNERS AT THE FINISH... Mike Golding racing Ecover triumphed in the end having dominated the front pack many times during the 4,100 mile race..
* NOW A RACE AGAINST TIME TO SECURE title SPONSOR TO GET MOLONEY TO VENDÉE START...having now completed his qualification, Moloney must secure a title sponsor within a couple of months to get to the start...
Skipper of TEAM COWES, Nick Moloney, crossed the finish line of the solo transatlantic race in 5th place at 15:50:50 GMT completing the 4,100 mile race from Salvador de Bahia, Brazil to La Rochelle, France in 17d 50m 50s. "The objective has been achieved...to finish this race and qualify for next year's non-stop round the world Vendée Globe. I am pretty exhausted and glad to be here - the last couple of night were pretty harsh - cold and wild! It has been an unbelievably fantastic race from start to finish and I have learnt masses about racing this boat solo."
In the end it came down to just a few hours - after 4,100 miles of intense and close racing, a high pressure system off Cape Finisterre effectively re-started the race as the leaders came within miles of each other... Mike Golding, who dominated the front of the pack many times throughout this race, triumphed on board his new Ecover finishing first at 05:24:10 GMT this morning followed by Vincent Riou and then Alex Thomson. TEAM COWES managed to get within 60 miles of the leaders in the final stages of this race and finished 10h 26m 40s after Golding - an impressive performance against a fleet of new and highly optimised Open 60s. "It has been a really interesting tactical race with the fleet dividing so early on - but I have been thinking a lot about Jean Pierre in the last day or so... He is going to have to tough it out, big time, sailing back under jury rig at this time of year on your own - I really feel for the guy."
Nick Moloney was the first entry to be accepted for the 2004 Vendée and having now completed his qualification, Moloney needs to secure the reindexder of his sponsorship budget in the next two months. Moloney is already supported by the team of Offshore Challenges supporting partners and has part of the budget required but title sponsorship reindexs critical to secure the ex-Kingfisher Open 60 and optimise her to be competitive for the Vendée. "Now the objective of qualifying for the Vendée is realised, I will be giving my full attention to securing the title sponsor we need for this campaign. We are facing a mountain - but the tougher the challenge, the greater the reward..."
Following Moloney's victory in the solo Route du Rhum in November 2003 in the Open 50 class 2, this race was his first solo on board the ex-Kingfisher Open 60. Moloney has raced this boat many times including the EDS Atlantic Challenge with Ellen MacArthur, but not solo and this race has been a great opportunity for Moloney to see how the boat can best be optimised for a solo, non-stop round the world race.
LE DEFI FINISH POSITIONS 17.12.03:
Pos/Skippers Name/Boat Name/Finish time GMT/Race duration
1st Mike Golding / Ecover / 05:24:10 / 16d 14h 24m 10s
2nd Vincent Riou / PRB / 08:07:07 / 16d 17h 7m 07s
3rd Alex Thomson / AT Racing / 08:24:10 / 16d 17h 24m 10s
4th Sébastien Josse / VMI/ 10:45:20 / 16d 19h 45m 20s
5th Nick Moloney / TEAM COWES / 15:50:50 / 17d 50m 50s
PERFORMANCE PARTNER OF THE DAY : Bollé
Official sunglasses provider to Ellen MacArthur and the Offshore Challenges Sailing Team
http://www.offshorechallenges.com/bolle
For Race Information go to www.defi-atlantique.org
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