Jerseyman sails to third place in international boat race

Thursday 23 November 2017

He battled through hellish conditions and was leading for most of the race, but a Jersey sailor was pipped to the post and finished third in an international race from France to Brazil.

Jersey-born Phil Sharp and his Spanish co-skipper Pablo Santurde finished third in the 13th edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre, which traces a traditional coffee trading route, after crossing the line five hours after the winning team V&B.

The duo and their zero emission boat Imerys Clean Energy crossed the finish line in the Bay of All Saints in Salvador de Bahia at 04:33 after 17 days, 15 hours, 58 minutes and 41 seconds on the water.

Speaking after the arrival, Phil Sharp commented: "What an incredible fight we have been through over the last two and a half weeks. An intense three-way boat design battle against the Mach 3s Aina and V&B, a battle against different weather extremes, and a battle against our own personal limits.

“I'm not going to hide the fact that watching our lead wither away over the last few days has been difficult to swallow. Though it’s not exactly the result we had hoped for, or had worked towards during this race, I am satisfied to say that we really did give it our all. We pushed the boat and ourselves to 100% over the whole race and made the most of opportunities that came our way. We showed that we had pace in the strong winds by building a 40+nm lead, and despite losing most of this due to hooking a massive chunk of weed on the keel during the night, we succeeded in escaping the doldrums with a 20nm lead, which was a very important objective.”

Pictured: Cheers! The teammates finally got to drink the cocktail they had been dreaming off since their departure.

While they may not have finished first, the duo, who were leaders for 12 days out of 17, still have some achievements to celebrate. They set a new boat speed record powering Imerys Clean Energy up to 25.5 knots “during one crazy night west of Portugal rocketing downwind in 35 knots of wind”, explained Phil. They were also the winners of the doldrums strategy and escaped what is known as a 'sailor's worst nightmare' with a 20.4nm advantage. They also gained the highest lead in severe oceanic conditions.

While they ranked daily on the podium, it was eventually raw boat speed that held the duo back. Phil explained: “Unfortunately, the cushion from the doldrums wasn't enough to fend off the newer, more powerful Mach 3s in the South Atlantic with the reaching conditions that we faced. Once we finally entered a level playing field off Recife, it was too late to catch up and so with nothing to lose we tried the only alternative, to go offshore, which sadly gave no advantage. In the end this was a game of boat evolution, and the latest design won.”

Class 40 Mach designer Sam Manuard comments on the evolution between the second and third generation boats: “Whilst Phil’s Mach 2 is a great all-rounder, the Mach 3 evolution was designed to achieve different goals aiming to increase performance without making too much of a sacrifice on the Mach 2’s great features. Clearly the gains are in reaching and they also have a sweet spot in certain downwind conditions. Phil and Pablo have done an amazing job, once again proving what great sailors they are!”