15 Jul Transatlantic Finish And A Huge Thank You To Everyone…..
At 03:25 UTC the Oakcliff All-American Offshore Team crossed the finish line off Lizard Point, and in doing so concluded a Transatlantic Race that was 6 months in the making. It is an achievement that could not have been reached without your enthusiastic support. The sixteen of us onboard the Vanquish have been given an incredibly opportunity, an opportunity none of us will forget, and for that we are incredibly grateful. We’re currently on our way to the port of Gosport, 160 miles from the finish line, and we wanted to take some time to thank everyone who helped us along the way and made all of this possible.
Our race was a tough one. We were up against some of the best sailors and technology in the world, a North Atlantic weather pattern that offered no more than 25 knots of wind and some difficult obstacles that simply proved unavoidable. We left Newport behind us as we chased the fleet east, pushing all the way. At the race’s halfway point we stood in 3rd place, behind Puma Ocean Racing’s brand new Volvo 70, and the record-setting Rambler 100, but it was not to last. A ridge of high pressure stood between us and England, and as hard as we tried, we could not evade it. We sat motionless for several days and watched those in front of the ridge sail to the finish, and those behind it sail back to us. The ridge finally moved east and our race resumed, but it was too late. Our final finishing position is 6th place out of 26, a result of which we are very proud. More important than the standings however, we finished this race as a team, and we got to do it our way: the Oakcliff All-American Offshore Team way.
Next up we have the Fastnet Race, another test of this team’s endurance and abilities. We are all looking forward to some time off, but equally as much to reconvening back here in England in less than a month’s time for our next adventure together…..