Of the 170 sailboats departing from Las Palmas on 26 December 2018 (4 remained alongside to solve various technical problems), it is therefore the JP 54 The Kid who crossed the finish line in the lead. Jean-Pierre Dick's boat crossed the Atlantic in just over 11 days to Rodney Bay - Saint Lucia - on Thursday, December 6 at 12:52 p.m. (local time), a time of 11:04:07 a.m. and 49 seconds. Note: The Kid has covered 3,254.5 miles while the direct route has 2,700 miles. The second sailboat to cross the line 14 hours later is the super yacht G2, almost twice as big..
"Great! Great! The whole crossing downwind under spinnaker!" said JP. Obviously, the six crew members - five men and one woman - took advantage of this express transatlantic crossing. And barely moored at the Rodney Bay Marina, they were not asked to celebrate their victory with an ice punch..
"We had the spinnaker all the time; it was very exciting! david Hoey, a native of Ireland and the only Anglophone on board, outbid David Hoey. Our top speed during this transatlantic race is 25 knots. Sometimes it was not easy to keep control of the boat because the spinnaker is really big."
Wind conditions for the ARC 2018 were excellent, with constant trade winds over most of the course. " The lightest winds were 16-17 knots during the very last days of this transatlantic race ", continues David.
Photo credit: Pierre-Yves Martens/Yachting Sud
During the welcoming ceremony organised by the Saint Lucia Tourist Office, JP made no secret of his pleasure in being the first to complete this transatlantic race in real time. The skipper also recalled the spirit of the sailboat he designed eight years ago "The boat is really a child of the IMOCA class, hence its name - The Kid. I wanted to bring all my years of experience to the design of a unit that could be a fast racing yacht, but within 20 minutes, become a family cruise ship." The design of its JP54 - obviously benefits from the skipper's experience, who has competed in some of the most challenging solo races in the world. In order to validate the validity of his race/cruise concept, he will travel around the Caribbean for Christmas with his family.
