Nilaya second to arrive in BVI. Sojana third, Med Spirit (4) just arrived in BVI.

Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands. 6th December 2012.  The The 32-metre Baltic Yachts sloop Nilaya is the second boat to arrive in Virgin Gorda, as she got to BVI 9 days, 5 hours, 25 minutes and 47 seconds after departing from Tenerife for the crossing of approximately 3,000 miles. The Farr 115 Sojana, owned by Peter Harrison, finished 10 hours and 30 minutes later to take third place in real time.

Both arrivals followed that of first-placed Rán Leopard, helmed by Niklas Zennström, which completed the regatta in 7 days, 8 hours, 59 minutes and 12 seconds to claim line honours and smash the course record.

“It was an exciting crossing,” commented Filip Balcaen, helmsman of Nilaya on his arrival at YCCS Marina. “For the first two days we had very strong winds, 35-37 knots, and big waves. During the regatta we decided to follow a northern course which was longer but with more wind. Unfortunately we damaged several spinnakers and therefore we had a lower average speed than we could have had with the sails we needed. During the crossing we reached a maximum boat speed of 27 knots. The crew did an excellent job and we are all very happy to have our first seated dinner at the new YCCS Clubhouse in Virgin Gorda”.

Oscar Konyukhov’s Med Spirit, the 27.7-metre sloop representing the Russian Yachting Federation, just arrived  (11.23.40 UTC)  in fourth place. The remaining two participating boats, Cape Arrow, a 2011-launched Southern Wind 100, and the majestic Shenandoah of Sark, the 1902-launched 55-metre triple masted schooner owned by Francesco, Carlo and Andrea Micheli, were forced to retire due to breakages and will be arriving in Virgin Gorda to join the fleet over the coming days.

The prize giving ceremony for the race, organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (YCCS) in collaboration with the International Maxi Association (IMA), is now expected to take place at the YCCS on Sunday 9th December. The YCCS Virgin Gorda Clubhouse located in the island’s North Sounds was officially inaugurated in January of this year and overlooks the purpose-built YCCS Marina which has been operational since March 2011.