Ruyant Wins Mini TransAt

Thomas Ruyant sailed his Finot-Conq designed Prototype 21-ft Mini, Faber France across the finish line of the second leg of the Charente Maritime-Bahia Transat 6.50 yesterday. Finishing in Salavador de Bahia, Brazil, after 18d 20h and 16m, Ruyant became the overall winner of the two-leg race when runner-up Bertrand Delesne’s Entreprendre Durablement arrived some six hours later.

Having covered the 3100-mile run from Funchal, Madeira, across the equator, at an average speed of 6.92 knots, Ruyant needed to at least make up the three-hour deficit he’d spotted Delesne on the race’s 1,100-mile first leg from Charente Maritime to Funchal. Ruyant ultimately beat Delesne by about six hours on leg two, and three hours overall, with a time of 24d, 23h, 38m at an average speed of 7.14 knots.