On Monday 16 May, Lalou Roucayrol crossed the finish line in New York to come in second in the Multi50 class. Sailing without a daggerboard for the last 6 days, Lalou accomplished an amazing feat to complete this legendary solo transatlantic race.
Crossing the North Atlantic in his trimaran proved particularly stressful for the skipper of Team Arkema who had to grapple with an unforgiving ocean as well as damage to his boat.
Following a collision with an unidentified floating object, Lalou Roucayrol announced that he had lost the daggerboard of the Multi50 Arkema trimaran. With the help of his navigators Karine Fauconnier and Eric Mas, the skipper managed to reach New York on the best possible route.
After 14 days 7 hours 13 minutes and 20 seconds at sea and 4199 nautical miles, Lalou Roucayrol was relieved to have made it safely to New York and secure a place on the podium.
Apart from the problem with the daggerboard, the boat is intact! The autopilot worked very well, and the various changes made to the boat last winter have been validated. In terms of the choice of route, we faced tougher conditions, but it was well worth the effort.