Phil Sharp heads for The Transat bakerly

British skipper returns to the Class40, ten years after his Route du Rhum victory

Almost 10 years on from his Route du Rhum victory, British solo sailor Phil Sharp is returning to the North Atlantic to compete in The Transat bakerly, from Plymouth to New York which starts on 2 May.

Just 10 days after his Vendée Globe campaign deadline passed, Sharp has switched back to a Class 40 in wihch he succeeded in such dramatic fashion 10 years ago. He has acquired the competitive Mach 40 that achieved multiple race victory in the hands of Sebastien Rogues as GDF Suez .

With just 20 days until the start of The Transat bakerly, the job list for Sharp's team is vast. Sharp must be on the start line for warm-up race that starts from St Malo on the 23rd April, but first the team must prepare the boat and Sharp must complete his qualifier. A thorough overhaul of the boat has meant a detailed check of all the safety equipment, sourcing of alternative sails, fitting new ocean-worthy rigging, the laborious and time-consuming de-branding, and installing cutting-edge solar panels to capture energy for the crossing.

Sharp commented: "Before I started offshore racing I had read about the dramatic experiences of Pete Goss and Ellen MacArthur competing in The Transat, for me it was just a distant dream. The raw brutality and challenge of the race is what I find so appealing, it is without doubt the toughest of all transats. As well as being single-handed, skippers have to fight their way to New York through the intense North Atlantic depressions, usually against winds and currents. It will be an amazing adventure in itself, and being a part of the largest fleet, the Class 40, will also make for really exciting competition.

"There hasn’t been an official Transat for 8 years now, and after missing 2008 I vowed to myself that I would be a part of the next race with a competitive entry. When our plans changed very recently, we decided there may just be enough time to get to the start line in a Class 40. It has been a serious fight to get to where we are, and although we have secured a great boat, we still have several obstacles to overcome. The first daunting one is that I have to head straight out into a windy ocean today to complete the 1,000 mile qualifying requirements. I have only sailed the boat once, so I just hope everything works and that the weather is not too unkind!"

Today Sharp will set sail from Lorient and out to Biscay to complete the 1,000 mile qualifier for The Transat bakerly. Estimated as a 5 day sail enabling Sharp to firm-up his hands in time for the Atlantic crossing.

In the Transat bakerly Sharp will be competing against 11 Class 40's and joining The Transat's 6 IMOCA's, 5 Multi50's, and 3 Ultimes, the fastest multihulls today. His aim is to break the Class 40 record of 16 days, 22 hours, 11 minutes and 27 seconds, set in 2008.