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16/11/2006

 PHIL SHARP SMASHES VICTORY AT FIRST ATTEMPT IN CLASS 40 OF THE ROUTE DU RHUM

25 years old Brit Phil Sharp wins the Route du Rhum – La Banque Postale after 18 days 10 hours 21 minutes et 18 seconds of race. His average for the crossing is: 8.01 knots. Sharp steps indeed into Dame Ellen MacArthur’s tracks as she was the first English entry to win the famous Transatlantic race in 1998 on an Open 50 – she was 22 years old. On November 6th, a few days after he broke from his opponents to pick up a north-westerly route, Phil Sharp hooked up at the lead of the 40-footer fleet and never gave it back. His option led him high in the north Atlantic where he had to face the most violent low pressure system of the race. Sharp crossed the line in front of the eyes of Dad and Grandmother, a moment that was quite emotional. Next step for Phil will be the Vendée Globe 2008.

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Actualités des classes

Final Rankings

Final Ranking

Monohulls

IMOCA

Roland JourdainSill et Veolia

Classe 1

Philippe ChevallierAntilles-Sails.com

Classe 2

Kip StoneArtforms

Classe 3

Michel KleinjansRoaring Forty

Classe 40

Phil Sharpphilsharpracing.com

Multihulls

ORMA

Lionel lemonchoisGitana 11

Classe 2

Franck-Yves EscoffierCrêpes Whaou !

Classe 3

Pierre AntoineImagine-Institut des Maladies Génétiques

Breaking news

• 02/11/2006 à 10:06:00News from Bolands Mill at 9 am

  Last night was not good for me. I ended up with the small spi in the sea, getting it back out took me about 2 hrs, I think it is undamaged but the snuffer is in a bad way and I had some ropes wrapped around the rudders. I lost the halyard for it so I am going to have to work out a plan for putting a spare up there and fashining some kind of repair to the snuffer. In these kind of conditions I expect to lose a lot of time on the other boats.
  Ian Munslow

• 30/10/2006 à 08:06:00Family reasons force Jérémie Beyou to leave race.

  Jérémie Beyou, skipper of the monohull DELTA DORE, has informed Jean Maurel, the director of the Race, that he has had to decide to quit the race for family reasons: The state of his wife, who is pregnant, has worsened and has required the skipper to rejoin her rapidly. His sponsor and his technical team support his decision unanimously.

• 29/10/2006 à 15:01:00Franck Cammas first at Cape Frehel

  Leading the entire fleet, Franck Cammas (Groupama) passed Cape Frehel at 14h56min35" followed by Michel Desjoyaux (Géant) at 15h08min11", Lionel Lemonchois (Gitana XI) at 15h02min08, Thomas Coville (Sodeb'O) at 15h02min23" and Pascal Bidégorry (Banque Populaire) 15h02min30"

• 28/10/2006 à 18:02:00THE ENGLISH POINT OF VIEW

  Mark Turner (co-owner of Offshore Challenge, with E. MacArthur: "I believe people do not realize what an outstanding event the Route du Rhum is. There is not an event that gathers as many people (mostly non sailors) on the docks. They come over here to watch the boats in an harbour that I’d compare to a theatre, and at night the streets of St Malo are so lively ! No other place or sailing competition can provide that."

• 27/10/2006 à 18:27:00Ellen MacArthur in St Malo

  This is the first time I am at the start of a race without actually racing or with an entry in a race to come. In addition I will not even be in St Malo tomorrow for the start. That’s a bizarre feeling and I am a bit sad, I must say ! I remember that in 2002, I was nervous before the start and during the low pressure system, but I really enjoyed sailing the race.

  In regards to the start, it will be interesting to see how the new boats perform in a low -pressure system. I will be looking at their speeds and sailing angles without drawing any quick conclusions! If some of the boats seem to under perform, it might be because their skippers are still fine-tuning their manoeuvres.