Transatlantic Race 2011 - George David Reflects on Transatlantic Crossing

July 10 - Rambler 100 skipper George David (Hartford, Conn.) spoke of his satisfaction after taking line honors in the Transatlantic Race 2011, just minutes after crossing the finish line at The Lizard, Cornwall, U.K.

“It was really nice to see David Aisher (Rear Commodore Yachting of the Royal Yacht Squadron) greet us on the line with some Cornish pastries and some champagne and beer. We feel pretty good; it was a remarkably fast time.

"For the first 80 hours of this race we were ripping along; towards the end we hit a few holes in the wind, but the net speed average was 15.7 knots across the Atlantic, which I think is going to prove a record in its own right--as a speed record for any transatlantic race. We feel pretty good about that

"Kenny Read is about 100 miles behind us with his PUMA Team. The odds are he is probably going to win the race on corrected time, but we will see what happens over the next 15 hours, which is about the amount of time that we give them. We will keep a look out on the tracker, and we will see when the time expires, but just like politicians, we are not going to concede just yet.

"Flying along at 28 knots is an exhilarating experience but one that concentrates the mind. Rambler is a finely balanced machine and anything can go wrong and there are huge forces opposing each other. If those forces go out of balance, bad things can happen very quickly. But as I say this has been an exhilarating race, where we have been well out of sight of land, completely unsupported and in a high performance machine, which you are taking close to the edge, for a very long time--that is, without doubt, exhilarating.”

Rambler 100 crossed the finish line of the Transatlantic Race 2011 on Sunday 10th July at 16h 08m UTC.

The elapsed time for Rambler 100 was 6 days, 22 hours, 8 minutes, 2 seconds.

It has established a new record for the 2,975 nautical mile course from Newport, R.I. to Lizard Point, South Cornwall, U.K., which is to be ratified by the World Sailing Speed Record Council.

Sponsors of the TR 2011 are Rolex, Thomson Reuters, Newport Shipyard, Perini Navi and Peters & May, with additional support by apparel sponsor Atlantis Weathergear.

To follow the race via tracker and get real insight into life on board via the blogs, visit www.transatlanticrace.com

More about the Transatlantic Race 201

The Transatlantic Race 2011 charts a 2,975 nautical mile course from Newport, R.I., to Lizard Point, South Cornwall, England. Pre-start activities took place at the New York Yacht Club’s Harbour Court clubhouse in Newport, while awards will be presented at the Royal Yacht Squadron’s Cowes Castle clubhouse on the Isle of Wight. Three separate starts – June 26, June 29 and July 3 – featured 26 boats ranging from 40 to 289 feet in length. In addition to winners in seven classes (IRC Class 1 Racer, IRC Class 2 Racer, IRC Class 3 Racer/Cruiser, IRC Class 4 Racer/Cruiser, Classic, Class 40, and Open), whichever yacht finishes the course with the fastest elapsed time will set the benchmark for a new racing record from Newport to Lizard Point, to be ratified by the World Speed Sailing Council. Rolex watches will be awarded to the record holder and the overall winner (on corrected time) under IRC.

The Transatlantic Race 2011 is also the centerpiece of the Atlantic Ocean Racing Series (AORS), which includes the Pineapple Cup – Montego Bay Race, RORC Caribbean 600, the Annapolis to Newport Race, Rolex Fastnet Race, Biscay Race and the Rolex Middle Sea Race. Of the seven races in the AORS, three races, including the TR 2011 must be completed to qualify for a series victory. Each race is weighted equally in overall series scoring with the exception of TR 2011, which is weighted 1.5 times. All entered yachts are scored using their two best finishes in addition to the TR 2011. Awards for the AORS will be presented in November, 2011, at the New York Yacht Club’s Annual Awards Dinner in Manhattan.

. . Rambler 100 team celebrating at the Lizard Point finish in South Cornwall, U.K. (photo credit TR2011/ Mark Lloyd).	Rambler 100 Navigator Peter Isler (photo credit TR2011/Jan Harley).

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