Line honors for the 2015 Transatlantic Race go to Bryon Ehrhart aboard Lucky, which crossed the finish line at The Lizard off the south coast of England after eight days, 22 hours, five minutes and three seconds at sea on a 2,800-mile eastbound crossing of the North Atlantic, sailed mostly in strong winds.
Jim Clark and Kristy Hinze-Clark’s 100-foot Comanche crossed the finish line at The Lizard on Monday at 5:49 UTC (01:49 EDT). Rival yacht Rambler 88 followed at 11:08 UTC (07:08 EDT), winning on corrected time by seven hours, two minutes and 49 seconds over her larger opponent.
Comanche set a new monohull 24-hour record when she covered 618.01 miles over Friday-Saturday (subject to ratification by the World Sailing Speed Record Council). Noted Bay area navigator Stan Honey was reported to have fallen and hit his head during the end of the race. According to reports, he never lost consciousness but was slated to undergo concussion protocol at a local hospital.
Lloyd Thornburg’s MOD70 trimaran Phaedo³ also put in a resounding performance. Toward the end of the race Phaedo³ reportedly recorded a peak speed of 41.2 knots when navigator Miles Seddon was driving.
The classic favorite, 53-foot Dorade, which won the 2013 Transpac Race, hoped to repeat its 1931 Transatlantic victory. Sailing conditions, however, favored newer, more powerful boats. Despite Dorade’s efforts it was unable to beat the biggest boat in the fleet, Mariette of 1915, to victory in the Classic division and IRC Class 4, but finished a respectable second in both. Dorade actually finished in a little less than 14 days, 23 hours — taking more than a day off Olin Stephens’ 1931 time.