Victory for Peyron

French sailing legend enters the history books with third OSTAR/Transat win

Loick Peyron on board Gitany Eighty crossed the finish line of The Artemis Transat at 03:15:35 GMT on Saturday, 24 May (00:15:35 local time). His arrival in Boston, USA, marks an historic achievement for this legendary French sailor. He is now the only sailor in history to have won this race three times (1992/1996/2008), exceeding the two-time record he shared with another French sailing legend, Eric Tabarly.

Gitana Eighty finished the 2,982-mile course of The Artemis Transat in a time of 12 days, 11 hours, 45 minutes, 35 seconds (based on corrected time including the deduction of the 2.5 hour time allowance awarded by the jury for his rescue of Vincent Riou). In doing so, he has beaten the existing monohull record of 12 days, 15 hours, 18 mins and 8 secs set by Mike Golding onboard Ecover in 2004, by 3 hours, 32 mins and 33 secs.

On the water Peyron sailed 3185 miles at an average speed of 10.68 knots



Dockside at Rowes Wharf in Boston, Peyron commented::"If I'm happy? Yes! If I'm tired? Oh yes! It was an exhausting race, especially at the end, but it was once again a fantastic battle on the water. Leaving Plymouth, I knew there were at least six boats capable of winning this one, and in fact that was demonstrated by the numerous changes of leaders. I was happy to be in the match since the start, it's always good to take an early lead, and when I moved back a bit afterwards it didn't worry me a lot, that might be because I'm starting to have a bit of experience! Taking Vincent onboard was strange at first, I had trouble getting back into my pace and habits, but then we learnt to know each other, it was great - we finished the race commenting on what our fight might have been and given the weather patterns, I think we would have ended up more than exhausted, it would have been extremely close-fought.

"Winning this event for the third time is fantastic, considering its history and my own attachment to it. My uncle Jean-Yves Terlain raced it in 1972, I took my first start in 1984, and now almost 25 years later, I'm winning it for the third time! Do I think about having won one more than Tabarly? Well, I guess every time I'm on a boat I think about him - he got us all into sailing really... In fact, yes, this third victory really feels special, when I think about it!"

In 1992, on the previous OSTAR course to Newport, RI, Peyron won in eleven days, one hour and 35 minutes on board his trimaran Fujicolor. Paul Vatine came second in 12 days 7 hours and 48 minutes, finishing more than one day later, followed by Francis Joyon, in third.

The 1996 OSTAR (the tenth) Peyron finished ahead of Laurent Bourgnon who turned capsized his trimaran. Francis Joyon opted for a very northerly route, which turned out to be an excellent choice, but as he was propelled towards victory, he too capsized off the Grand Banks. At this point in time, those following him lay almost 24 hours behind - Paul Vatine also on a northerly course but 292 miles behind and Loïck Peyron a little more than 334 miles. In the end, Peyron pulled into the lead, just a puff ahead of Vatine to win in 10 days 10 hours and 5 minutes.