The “Telecom Italia” yacht, piloted by the duo Giovanni Soldini and Karinne Fauconnier, became the winner of the Les Sables/Horta/Les Sables regatta, winning the two stages of this international competition for 40-feet sailing boats.
This sailing boat, which was built in 2007, crossed the finishing line at 1:41:32 AM (France local time), having taken 6 days, 5 hours and 32 seconds to travel the distance between the Horta port, on Faial Island, and the Les Sables d’Olonne port, located on the French Atlantic Coast.
In this second stage, the “CG Mer” yacht, piloted by Wilfrid Clerton and Loic Lehelley, took second place and the “Tzu-Hang” yacht, piloted by Axel Strauss and Juerg Burger arrived in third.
Only 4 of the 24 yachts that have left Horta towards France last Wednesday, to take part in the second stage, have concluded the competition until the present moment.
With a total distance of 2,540 nautical miles, the Les Sables/Horta/Les Sables regatta, which will return to the Azores in 2011, is considered as one the most important nautical competitions that has ever taken place in Portugal.
This year’s edition was organised in France by the municipality of Les Sables d’Olonne, under the coordination of the Institut Sports Océan (Ocean Sports Institute) and the Class 40 association, with the support of the Regional Council of the Pays-de-la-Loire, the General Council of the Department of Vendée, the Olona Port, the TV Channel France Ouest and of Aout-Web Informatique.
The event was organised in the Azores by the Horta Nautical and the Municipal Commission (an entity that congregates the Horta City Hall, the Clube da Naval da Horta, the Administration of the Port of the Triangle and of the Western Group – APTO and the Regional Sailing Association of the Azores – ARVA/VelAçores), counting upon the support of the Azorean Government, the municipal company Hortaludus, Peter Café Sport,JM – Transportes and Demolições and of TerAuto.