(Arcachon, France)- The 40th edition of the "18 heures d'Arcachon" organized by the "Cercle de la Voile d'Arcachon" is a very popular sailboat race that is modeled after the idea of the famous auto race-- the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The 103 boats sailed around a fixed course in Arcachon Bay for a total of 18 hours-- from Saturday 6th of July at 7:00 PM to Sunday 7th of July at 11:00 AM. Seven classes participated with boats ranging in size from 18 ft up to 50 footers! Several J/Teams had fantastic performances, winning their classes with the most mileage sailed and taking 3 of the top 6 boats overall!
The big-time winner in both Class B and Overall Champion with the most mileage sailed was the J/109 POULICO, skippered by Francois Lamaignere, with a total of 86.26 nm credited for their extraordinary sailing performance, easily eclipsing all of their closest competitors. Lying fourth in class and sixth in fleet was the J/122 LORELEI skippered by Alain Chatherineau with 79.34 nm to their credit.
Taking first in Class RA was the J/22 MARLOTTE V skippered by Phillipe De Galzain with a grand total of 72.71 nm to their credit. And in Class RB, the J/92 SAPAJOU sailed by Christophe Rochereau took second with a total of 79.84 nm for their overnight sailing efforts-- plus they took fifth overall out of all 103 boats! For more 18 Hours d'Arcachon Race sailing information