Transat Jacques Vabre 2003 zur Übersicht - www.jacques-vabre.com Hellomoto takes convincing victory in Transat Jacques Vabre Open 50 Class 2 other 50's finish It seems somehow very fitting, if not prophetic, that on the day that England and Australia produce the closest and greatest final of Rugby's World Cup, the Aussie-Brit pairing of Paul Larsen and Conrad Humphreys seal an incredible victory aboard their yacht Hellomoto in the Open-50 class of the Transat Jacques Vabre 2003, and manage to do it in time to pick up their trophy in person at the prizegiving just one hour later! It's the culmination of a tough, hard fought race for the duo, that belies the winning margin of more than 500 miles over their group rivals. But it's no less of a convincing performance for all that - perhaps the most convincing of any class and ignoring those that did not finish, one that even put HELLOMOTO ahead of three class 1 Open-60s. "I'm just ecstatic," said a very excited Conrad, shortly after crossing the finish line. "It's not really sunk in yet - I feel numb. It's been such an incredible race. Between our router Lee (Bruce), Paul and I, we were able to keep it all together and make the breaks just when we needed to. Those storms of the first few days really took their toll, physically and mentally. In conditions where it felt as though HELLOMOTO would come apart, we had to dig deep. Then the Doldrums gave us our big break - clever routing and some bold moves with the squalls allowed us to scoot through a maze of light winds and into the Trades. From then on, we just pushed for every bit of speed to catch the 60s, and make the final party." For Paul Larsen, the win represents a successful defence of his title from the race of 2001. "It's great to be at the end of what's been a very long and challenging course. Weatherwise, it was a real game of 'snakes and ladders'. Fortunately, I think we got most of the ladders in our fleet. Certain weather windows were quite small and made for a large overall separation in the fleet. The race really had everything, with the first few days being bloody hard work. There was a lot of pressure on Conrad to pull this off. We couldn't afford a repeat of the events of last year's Route du Rhum, yet we still had to push the boat. I'm happy for him and glad for myself for making it two out of two. It's a very satisfying finish and my thanks to everyone." Conrad too was quick to acknowledge the support and efforts of the team behind him. "They've been just fantastic," said Conrad. "It's been a very tough campaign and resources have been limited. But the team has stuck with us every step of the way - Motorola, the guys back at the ranch, everybody. This is for them as much as it is for us and I can't wait to see them all again and to share it with them. But until I do, you'll just have to excuse me if I enjoy the moment!" Fotos: Mark Pepper @ Marinepics Ltd The Open 50 winner Hellomoto arrived at 2021hrs GMT 20s - which was 1721hrs local time. The Prizegiving kicked off at 1800hrs at the Hotel Catussaba, and so the boys times it perfectly to rock up in style and collect their winner's trophy with the other podium skippers in the Open 60 classes. With 600m advantage over their nearest rival, Humphrey's and Larsen have convincingly won their class. The 4,340m theoretical course took 21 days, 6hrs 21mins and 20s at an average boat speed of 8.50 knots. On Tuesday 25th November at 0801hrs GMT 15s Jean François Durand &Stéphane Chemin on Défi Vendéen finished the Transat Jacques Vabre, just 2 days 11 hours 39 mins 55s after Hellomoto, taking 2nd place in the Open 50 Class. Their time was 23 days 18 hrs 01m 15s with an average boat speed of 7.61 knots. Storagetek has just arrived into Salvador Wednesday morning 26th November.. Mary Ambler Copyright © 1996-2016 - SEGEL.DE