Transat

Live from Bean Town

Our Boston reporter Tack Johnson spent Sunday afternoon at Rowes Wharf in Boston in front of the Boston Harbor hotel where the single handed Transat is in full swing. He had a chance to see some fine finishes and talk to some of
the sailors on hand. Here is his report.

Boston, Mass - The 12th running of the single-handed Transat from Plymouth, England to Boston,
Massachusetts is ongoing and since the starting gun was fired on May 31, the four fleets have had intense
competition and very tough sailing conditions.

In the early hours of today, Britain's Mike Golding finished first in the Open 60 class in 12 days, 15
hours and 18 minutes breaking the record for the Transat in his class aboard his boat Ecover. Dominque
Wavre of France and Mike Sanderson of New Zealand finished second and third respectively in the Open 60s
after Golding in the early hours of Sunday morning.

"The Open 60 fleet is unusual in that we are all fully sponsored and are all sailing professionally," Golding
said. "That is going to raise the stakes pretty high and when you are careening along in the middle of the
night knowing there are icebergs but with no visibility it all adds to the intensity. And, if you
are fully in control of these boats at all times than you are not going fast enough."

Fast enough was 40 knots for Frenchman Yves Parlier who had lost his autopilot fairly early in the race
and because of the conditions had gone seven out of his 13 days at sea without one hot meal. Parlier
finished in the multi 60 fleet in 13 days, 7 hours and 11 minutes on Sunday afternoon. His multi-hull
Mediatis Region Aquitaine is the most radical in the fleet and the Transat was its first major crossing.

His boats' specialized design made it possible for him to sail 40 knots downwind but much of this Transat was
a steep climb on the nose and he had a long, hard race where conditions for him were "terrible." Parlier said
by comparison the Vendee Globe - the worlds' non-stop around the world race Parlier raced in 2001 was
easier.

"This boat has great potential and goes 40 knots through the sea but sailing with the waves in front
-upwind - is tough." When asked if he would get back on the boat and sail this same race in a month,
Parlier said "no." When asked why he did this race, he said, "I don't know."

Parliers boat is built for speed and for breaking records, and this Transat was something of a test run
for his unusual two-masted multi-hull. Parliers living conditions were extremely narrow and tight, resembling
living inside of a pontoon. In the North Atlantic, the cold and the storms were almost too much for this
veteran sailor. But, he also said, "give me six months and I might consider that I could do it again."

Soon after Parlier finished, Nick Moloney of Australia arrived at Rowes Wharf in Boston aboard the Open 60
Skandia in 13 days, 9hours and 13minutes. For Moloney, the intensity of the racing, the level of
competition, the weather and the extreme cold off the Labrador current prompted him to comment that this was
"one of the toughest Transat's ever."

"One of the most humbling things we sailors all feel is that we could get smacked off the face of the earth
at any minute." Moloney said. "We were all pushing the boats extremely hard and I worked to stay in the hunt
but you know you have been in the zone when all hell starts breaking loose around you and you see the
weather in all its fury,"

Moloney said fatigue set in for him somewhere off the area around Cape Sable as the cold from the Labrador
current and lack of sleep began to take its toll. "I had a very close race against Conrad Humphreys but
I was convinced for a time that he had a full crew and I had to race him alone," he said. "At one point, I
woke up to read the navigational chart and was convinced that I was in Port Phillip Bay in Melbourne,
Australia. I think Conrad pushed me to that level of fatigue. I was really impressed with his racing and I
think we learned where our limits are in this race."

The sailors who finished the race today struggled had hands so raw and red from the cold that they struggled
after being handed a large Moet champagne bottle as they tried to remove tin foil and small wires from the
cork. Their hands visibly red fumbled with opening the champagne. But, once the cork was popped, and
champagne was duly poured onto the boat, they each got that long awaited taste of dry land.

"It has been a real honor for me to fly the Australian flag and come from the other side of the world to do
this race," Moloney said.

The remaining sailors will hopefully all be in Boston by Wednesday, but they are still far offshore and
likely cold to the core tonight.