Gryphon Solo 2, winner of Leg 1 of the 2014 Atlantic Cup in Class 40s. Image copyright Billy Black
by 11th Hour Racing media
After racing 648 nautical miles, the fleet of four Class 40s competing in The Atlantic Cup presented by 11th Hour Racing finished in light winds on Wednesday morning. The leading three teams traded positions in the run up to New York where ultimately first through third were separated by a mere 22 minutes.
Gryphon Solo 2. Image copyright Billy Black
#106-Gryphon Solo 2, skippered by Joe Harris and Patrick O’Connor, crossed the finish line first at 05:20:10 ET on Wednesday, May 14, with an elapsed time of 89:15:10 to complete the 642 nautical mile first off-shore leg of the Atlantic Cup from Charleston, S.C. to New York City. The race, the most sustainable sailing event in the United States, saw USA’s 106-Gryphon Solo 2 finish 15 minutes 5 seconds ahead of #54 Dragon (89:30:05), followed by the team of #39 Pleiad Racing (89:37:20).
Class 40s in the 2014 Atlantic Cup. Image copyright Billy Black
The race began at 12:05 p.m. on Saturday, May 10th from the Charleston Maritime Center. The teams left Charleston harbor with double-reefed mains in 20-25 knots of breeze on a fast passage to Cape Hatteras. The first night brought squalls across the course and #116-JeffreyMacFarlane.com damaged their primary spinnaker, which proved to be costly for the remainder of the race. After Cape Hatteras the fleet encountered 24 hours of light fluky wind as a frontal passage passed over the area towards the east. The front three boats of #54-Dragon, #39-Pleiad and #106 Gryphon Solo 2 were in sight of each other for the first two days of the race with lead changes occurring on multiple occasions.
The 2014 Atlantic Cup fleet. Image copyright Billy Black
Last night, coming into NY Harbor, Gryphon Solo 2 was defending a .1 nautical mile (nm) lead and was 300 yards away from the finish line in a very fickle breeze. The breeze shut off allowing Pleiad to catch up and both teams battled to reach the finish in a windless, current against them situation for over three hours. Dragon, who was 9nm behind closed the gap and also fought the fickle, current situation. All three teams had multiple approaches to the finish line before they were able to actually finish. Gryphon Solo 2 ultimately was able to sail past the line and allow the current to take them back down to duck across the finish.
A close finish to Leg 1. Image copyright Billy Black
For all of the results and to view the race tracker replay please visit HERE
Jeff Macfarlane at the end of Leg 1. Image copyright Billy Black
Other Race News:
#25 - Flatline skippered by Kyle Hubley and Frederic de Mesel, scored as DNS (did not start) and be given 0 points for the first leg. The first leg represents one third of the scoring for the overall Atlantic Cup, so Flatline is still in contention once they join the fleet here in NYC.
Flatline did not start Leg 1. Image copyright Billy Black
May 17th - 2014 Atlantic Cup Leg 2 Race Start - 12 PM
Come down
from 11am-1pm and watch the fleet up close as they depart for Newport.
The restart is easily viewable from the sea wall in Battery Park City as
the Start Line is just off the southwest corner of North Cove Marina.
The official start time for Leg 3 is 12pm!
We’ll have live commentary as the boats depart the famed New York Harbor and head towards Newport. See you there!
We’ll have live commentary as the boats depart the famed New York Harbor and head towards Newport. See you there!
From May 20th to 25th the Atlantic Cup comes back to Newport for the 4th time! Join us as we welcome the fleet taking part of the largest and only Class40 race in the United States. The final in-shore series of the race will be held over Memorial Day weekend from 12pm-4pm on May 24th and 25th.
Atlantic Cup events will be held daily throughout the week including an outdoor evening screening of Eco and Adventure docs at the Newport Shipyard with newportFILM, a coastal clean up of the entire race course, and several chances to party with the Atlantic Cup, for the full list of events click here.
Plus for the very first time in the USA, the IMOCA 60 fleet and the Class 40 fleet will be together at the Newport Shipyard. The IMOCA 60s will be preparing for the NY-BCN race and the Class 40s will be in for the Inshore Series. Both classes of boats are the top of the sport in terms of short-handed offshore racing so this will be a great opportunity to check out these powerful racing machines.
The Atlantic Cup
