François Gabart and his crew cannot wait to finally arrive and take the win of the Centennial Transatlantic race. At 3 pm, on Monday, July 3rd, the Ultime trimaran, currently 45 miles away from the finish line under the Verrazano Bridge, is expected between 2 pm and 4 pm, local time (8pm and 10pm, French time) to be announced as the winner of this 100 % Ultimate trimarans race, which started on Sunday, June 25th, at 7 pm off Saint-Nazaire.
With 120 miles ahead of IDEC sport and so close to the end, the trimaran MACIF is well positioned to triumphantly cross the finishing line of THE BRIDGE as the winner. Nevertheless, François Gabart reminds everyone that « It is not over as long as we have not crossed the line ». Indeed, the American coast requires a lot of vigilance: « There are a few people around us. We just passed near a fisherman who had no AIS (system of automatic identification which allows to see the positioning of boats in their navigation zone ! We are concentrated. »
The skipper seems satisfied with this transatlantic race which allowed a yacht and crew battle with a high-level competition: «We had next to us the two best multihulls of the moment in offshore race IDEC sport and Sodebo. As I speak to you, the outcome is obviously very positive! The crew worked well, there was a lot of interaction and frequent rotations organised on the deck was dynamic. We never fell asleep when doing adjustments. I think that everybody had a lovely time as I can see many smiles around me. »