It was at 03 hours 17 minutes and 13 seconds GMT this Friday 4th February 2005 that the 60 foot monohull Ecover skippered by Mike Golding crossed the finish line of the Vendée Globe 2004, a single-handed race, without stopovers and without assistance and most significantly without his keel for the finish of the Sables d’Olonne (France). Golding sailed the last 50 miles of the race without his keel.
The race time to make the 23 680 miles is 88 days 15 hours and 15 minutes and 13 seconds at an average theoretical speed across the course of 11.13 knots.
References (GMT) :
Start and finish : Les Sables d’Olonne (France)
Number of miles to cover : 23 680 miles
Start date : Sunday 7 November 2004 at 1202 GMT
Date of first arrival : Vincent Riou (PRB) on Wednesday 2 February 2005 at 22hr 49mn 55sec.
Date of second arrival : Jean Le Cam (Bonduelle) on Thursday 3 February 2005 at 05hr 22mn 08sec.
Race time : 87 days 17 hours 20 minutes 08 seconds.
Delay behind leader : 1 day 4 hours 27 minutes 18 seconds
