Pierre Le Boucher’s Class40 Penfret crossed the Round Britain finish line first . . . but at a Protest Hearing, Penfret was deemed to have not sailed the course.
Penfret crossed the finish line first in an elapsed time of 9 days 29 mins and 40 secs. They still celebrated, even though they knew a protest was pending.
Second over the line, just 1 hr 28 mins 54 secs later was Greg Leonard’s Swift – declared the Class40 winner after the protest hearing . . . Penfret had gone inside Bills’ Rocks located nine miles offshore.
Jon Tyrrell’s Gambit moved up to second after finishing third on the water, less than eight miles astern.
Leonard spoke about the tremendous battle during the race: “The Class40 fleet has evolved to the point where there’s no let‑up at all. There’s no break, no respite, no quarter given. We raced 1,800 miles and were within sight of the other Class40s almost the whole way around, effectively match racing for days on end.”
Next to finish at Cowes is expected to be Sam Hall’s Pata Negra leading in IRC One. ETA 20:17 hrs Wednesday 19 August.