Spindrift first into Dublin

Yann Guichard's team takes the overall MOD70 lead in the Route des Princes

At 04:37:48 UTC, Spindrift, skippered by Yann Guichard, crossed the finish line of the second leg of the Route des Princes from Lisbon to Dun Laoghaire claiming first place in the MOD70 class. Spindrift’s elapsed time for the leg is 2 days 15 hours 37 min and 48 sec. Between Portugal and Ireland Spindrift sailed 1178 miles at an average speed of 18.51 knots.

Last Sunday evening, not long after the fleet left Lisbon, Spindrift also collected the two bonus points for passing the C1 mark, by Cascais, in first place. At the second scoring point, yesterday morning at Fastnet Rock, they lay second, 20 minutes behind Oman Air-Musandam, but the net result is that Spindrift now leads the overall standings.

Yann Guichard commented: “It feels really good to win coming in here. We were so pleased to cross the line and win because it was so tough with the other guys. I am happy for us as a team. It was close between us before Cork, downwind with so many gybes to control the other competitors and just after that we just took the lead and since then we just held the lead to the finish. The wind was very unstable and we were always expecting the northerly wind during this morning and when it went ahead this morning we were okay. The differences are very small but I think we are fast; we are always focused on the speed of the boat. It was really good from the start to the finish.

"I only really realised we could win when I woke up two hours before the finish. I got some sleep to make sure I was on form for the finish. It was not finished really through until the final point when we had one mile in hand and then I really thought we could win this leg. It is really good to be leading overall but we have to be focused for the inshore races.”

At 04:44:32 UTC, Edmond de Rothshchild, skippered by Sébastien Josse, took second place in the MOD70 class crossing the line 6 minutes and 44 seconds behind Spindrift, making their elapsed time 2 days 15 hours 44 minutes and 32 seconds. They sailed 1180 miles at an average speed of 18.51 knots.

The Sidney Gavignet-skippered Oman Air-Musandam, with Ireland’s Damian Foxall on board, was third at 04:45:05 UTC, seven minutes and 17 seconds behind Spindrift and just 33 seconds astern of Edmond de Rothschild.

Points for Leg 2, (provisional):
1. Spindrift, 40 pts
2. Edmond de Rothschild, 36 pts
3. Oman Air-Musandam, 32 pts
4. Virbac-Paprec 70, 28 pts

Overall after leg 2 MOD70 (provisional):
1. Spindrift (Yann Guichard) 94 pts
2. Edmond de Rothschild (Sébastien Josse) 88 pts
3. Oman Air-Musandam (Sidney Gavignet) 88 pts
4. Virbac-Paprec 70 (Jean-Pierre Dick) 66 pts