(Grand Canaria, Canary Islands)- In the mix for both IRC Class 2
leadership and also IRC Overall honors for nearly the entire duration of
this year’s 2,995nm Trans-Atlantic Race was the J/133 APOLLO 7 from the
United Kingdom, skippered by her owner Nigel Passmore. As they
approached the final part of the race from the Canary Islands down the
tradewinds route to Grenada, the APOLLO 7 team worked incredibly hard to
milk the breeze for every advantage possible.In the end Passmore's British team on APOLLO 7 crossed the finish line off Quarantine Point, Grenada at 18:45:15 UTC on Monday 15th December 2014 with an elapsed time of 15 days, 08 hours, 45 minutes and 15 seconds. After time correction, APOLLO 7 not only won IRC Class Two, but took 4th IRC Overall!
Nigel's team included three close friends from his hometown of Plymouth, Devon: Steve Wassell, James Slater and Mark Davies. Also on board were two offshore specialists: Dan Gohl, a past Class 40 World Champion and Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Record holder as well as Brett Aarons, who has won class in the Rolex Fastnet Race with Nigel Passmore in another yacht.
Nigel spoke dockside in Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina about the race and why he decided to take part:
"This morning the sun came up and I thought about home where it would be cold and miserable, and there I was at the wheel, flying along under spinnaker, in just a pair of shorts, thinking this is just heaven, and 10 of the 15 days have been just like that.
At
the beginning of this race, we went through the hard bit; getting out
of the Canaries was tough work, fully oil-skinned up and I was thinking,
what is this all about? We had a blustery period mid-Atlantic and I
remember one night at the wheel in well over 30 knots of wind. It was
pitch black with torrential train and difficult to read the waves, but
we were racing and doing 16 knots into the abyss. We didn't take the
kite down or put another reef in, we kept pushing hard and the challenge
of a race is that on top of seamanship, you have the tactical
consideration of beating other boats. You know you have to keep driving
on if you are going to succeed.This is something I have wanted to do for 20 years or more and to do it, you have got to get yourself in the right frame of mind. Two years ago, something happened to an old friend of mine and I thought I had to do it now. I had my 50th birthday recently and I thought, come on, you have to start doing a few of these things.
I have always liked to sail with good friends and I don't like to single anyone out, but I have to give a big hand to Brett (Aarons). He has been fabulous. He has looked after us totally and been an absolute rock for the whole campaign.”
After a wee-bit of celebration on the docks, the crew anticipates enjoying the delights of the island, including scuba diving the beautiful reefs and taking island tours of the stunning interior famous for its rainforest with secluded waterfall locations. Sailing photo credits- RORC/ Arthur Daniel & Orlando Romain
Background: The RORC Transatlantic Race started November 30 from Puerto Calero Marina in the Canary Islands. The 11-boat fleet departed Puerto Calero Marina, Lanzarote bound for Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina, Grenada West Indies, 2,995 nm away across the Atlantic Ocean. For more RORC Trans-Atlantic Race sailing information
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