Salvador (Brazil) (AFP)
The duo formed by Ian Lipinski and Adrien Hardy (Crédit Mutuel) won Thursday in Salvador de Bahia (Brazil) in the Class40 category the Transat Jacques Vabre, double-handed race on October 27th in Le Havre.
The two sailors crossed the finish line at 01:36 local time (05H36 French time) after a crossing in 17 days, 16 hours, 21 minutes and 23 seconds.
"I was surprised at the speed capabilities of the boat, it was pretty incredible," said Adrien Hardy when he arrived at the dock, where the two sailors were greeted with fireworks, a salad bowl filled with fruit and the traditional caipirinha.
During the crossing, the duo beat the 24 hour speed record with an average of 17 knots.
Ian Lipinski, 38, built his reputation and track record in the Mini Transat. He is the only one to have won in both categories, series and prototype.
His team-mate, 35 years old, distinguished himself in dinghy, Figaro and Class40 and finished 4th of the Transat Jacques Vabre in 2015 in Imoca with Thomas Ruyant.
Three categories of boats are taking part in this 14th edition of the Route du café: the Class40s, 12-meter monohulls, Multi50s, 15-meter multihulls, and Imoca, 18-meter monohulls, at the center of attention at one year of the Vendée Globe, the legendary race around the world alone, nonstop and without assistance.
Yann Eliès and Charlie Dalin (Apivia) won the Imoca race on Saturday after crossing in 13 days, 12 hours and 8 minutes.
All categories combined is the tandem formed by Gilles Lamiré and Antoine Carpentier aboard the Multi50 Group GCA - Mille et une smiles, which won the first place after a journey in 11 days, 16 hours, 34 minutes and 41 seconds.
The Lipinski / Hardy duo has crossed the finish line while four Imoca have yet to arrive in the Bay of All Saints. In Class40, they are twenty to spin to Salvador de Bahia, while the only three Multi50 entered in the race have already arrived.
© 2019 AFP