The Transatlantic Superyacht Regatta & Transatlantic Maxi Yacht Cup finished with the arrival of the final participant and the official prize giving ceremony, held at the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda’s Caribbean base in Virgin Gorda. The 20m X-Yachts X65 Karuba 5 superyacht (CRO) took overall victory on corrected time ahead of the 66m Baltic Yachts sailing yacht Hetairos in second place. Tobias Koenig’s Swan 82 Grey Goose of Rorc yacht (GBR) took third place overall.
20m sailing yacht Karuba 5 - the Overall Winner of the 2011 Transatlantic Superyacht Race
The amazing luxury yacht Hetairos, which was launched in July of this year, claimed line honours having completed her 3069 mile crossing from Tenerife in 8 days, 10 hours, 58 minutes and 30 seconds at an average speed of just over 15 knots. The event was organized by the YCCS in collaboration with the International Maxi Association and saw eight superyachts and maxi yachts participate.
66m luxury yacht HETAIROS by Baltic Yachts
Vincent Fauquenoy, captain and racing manager aboard Hetairos yacht, was understandably pleased with his crew’s result: “It is certainly with great pride that we secured line honours in the race and even who knows, maybe a new speed record for this particular route. On a personal note, having been involved for the last two years in the very complex building process of Hetairos, managing to race her fresh out of the box across the Atlantic also brings me a sense of achievement. Hetairos performed admirably and we all enjoyed very much sailing her. We did not have the perfect wind and had to chase it most of the time but it has been a good training test for the boat and her crew for the next regattas of the season.”
During the prize giving dinner hosted by the YCCS prizes were also awarded to super yacht Hetairos as the first IMA member to cross the finish line and to Andrea Recordati’s Wally 101 sailing yacht Indio as the first YCCS member to finish. Peter Harrison’s charter yacht Sojana also received a special prize for having participated in all four editions of the transatlantic race organized since 2007.
Luxury charter yacht SOJANA
“I am delighted to see this beautiful fleet of sailing giants lined up at YCCS Marina and their owners and crews enjoying a ‘sneak preview’ of our new Clubhouse which will be officially inaugurated in January.” commented YCCS Commodore Riccardo Bonadeo during the final ceremony. “The level of participants in the event was extremely high and my sincere congratulations go to Hetairos: it not often that a boat fresh from the shipyard wins a transatlantic crossing by such an impressive margin on her first regatta outing. I hope to see her back here, together with the rest of the fleet, in March for our next superyacht regatta.”
“I am very pleased with the level of participation of IMA members – six out of the eight yachts – in this regatta.” declared Gianfranco Alberini, Secretary General of the International Maxi Association. “I was very impressed by Heitaros’ performance but all of the boats raced in a very competitive way. I am sure that with the cooperation of the YCCS and thanks to the Club’s outstanding facilities here in BVI the regatta will further grow in the near future.”
