Patrick Isoard on his Open 50 Uship pour enfants du Mekong crossed the finish line of The Transat CIC this Wednesday morning at 8:52hrs UTC, winning the Vintage division on the solo race across the North Atlantic in a time of 16 days 21 hours and 22 minutes on his 1997 Finot Conq design which won the 2003 Around Alone with Brad van der Liewe as Tommy Hilfiger. The boat was launched as Magellan Alpha and has many, many Transatlantics to her credit.
But the 65 year old French business manager has not only made own his dream come true but he has made a little bit of history on the race by putting his name on the trophy as the first ever winning of the Vintage class which is contested for the first time on this edition.
HIS RACE IN NUMBERS:Finish time: 08:52:47 UTC Elapsed time: 16 days 21 hours 22 minutes 47’’Distance traveled: 3,482.93 nautical miles Average speed (on the great circle): 7.28 knots Actual average speed: 8.59 knots
Patrick Isoard left on April 28th feeling deeply happy. He already knew that the shops he managed were in good hands. “I set the rules for the managing executives and they do very well,” he said before starting, and that allows me to indulge in my passion, ocean racing.”
And to date his biggest challenge is The Transat CIC, solo across the Atlantic on the North face.
A perfectly controlled race
For the first time in the history of the race a Vintage class was created. “It is important to us to offer a race for amateurs and to help give a second life to older boats,” explained Francis Le Goff, the race director, recently. Even with not much time between the publication of the NoR and the start there are still two good entries. Rémy Guérin (FAIAOAHE) and Patrick Isoard. The first is a 20-meter Spirit of Tradition monohull which is inspired by the sailing boats of the 1930s, the second is this historic Open50. “They are two different boats which cannot compete in terms of speed and behavior,” explains Francis Le Goff.
Uship pour enfants du Mekong, on the other hand is nimble enough to “accelerate, escape a system, be more reactive”. And it showed just that throughout the race. Certainly he could not keep up with the modern Class40s and fell behind the rest of the fleet in the first two depressions “perhaps by wanting to preserve the equipment”. But he found his rhythm making 200 miles 24 hour averages crossing depressions, strong winds and heavy seas without too many problems. So it has all gone well for Isoard who has crossed the finish line, making is own piece of history now looking forwards to a memorable arrival in New York and a well-deserved rest.
