Oceanracing 2004 - The Transat Race 2004 - ORMA 60 RACE - Plymouth

The Transat Race 2004
Plymouth - Boston - Start 31.05.2004
www.thetransat.com - zur Übersicht

19.06.2004
FINAL THREE COMPETITORS ARRIVE...

The final three competitors reindexing out of the 37 skippers that started The Transat onn 31st May have crossed the finish line at the entrance to Boston harbour. Etienne Hochede, skipper of 50ft multihull PIR2, crossed the line at 0245 GMT in a time of 19 days, 13 hours, 45 minutes to finish 4th in the mutlihull 50-foot class.

For Hochede this was his second Transat having previously competed in the 2000 edition finishing in third place in the Class 4 Monohull division. Hochede finished four days and nearly 13 hours of third-placed GiFi but, nonetheless, it is a great finish for a man who only acquired the 11 year old PIR2 last Christmas and carried out all the necessary modifications himself.

One and a half hours later, the final Open 60 skipper Anne Liardet on board Quicksilver crossed the finish line at 0327 GMT in 19 days, 14 hours, 24 minutes and only 51 minutes inside the finish time limit that expired at 0418 GMT. Liardet finished in 12th place out of the 15 IMOCA boats that started.

Quicksilver has been hampered by a broken boom that was damaged on the night of the 7th June - the same evening as PRB dismasted and Cheminees Poujoulat-Armox Lux lost her keel. For two years Liardet has been dreaming of competing in the Vendée Globe and her participation in The Transat has provided much needed boat testing and training in preparation for the marathon solo sprint around the world. Liardet race qualified for the 2004 Vendée Globe by completing the Defi Atlantique race last November.

Quiksilver Edition
Image © Benoit Stichelbaut / DPPI

PIR2
Image © DPPI

Roger Langevin on board his 50-foot monohull, Branec III, completing the arrivals of all the competing skippers but, sadly, Langevin finished outside of the official time limit at 1137 GMT in a time of 19 days, 22 hours and 37 minutes. The second-oldest competitor behind 72-year-old Mike Birch, fifty-five year-old Langevin purchased Branec III in 2001 and has raced in all the major short-handed offshore events including the last two Transat Jacques Vabres and the 2002 Route du Rhum. Although, a disappointment to finish outside of the time limit, Langevin is a great competitor who never lost sight of his goal to finish.