BBC SPORT | OTHER SPORTS | Club Med wins The Race

Club Med has won the inaugural edition of The Race, the unassisted round-the-world yacht race.

The French craft crossed the finish line on Saturday night to complete the event in 62 days and just under seven hours.

The Race started on 31 December in Barcelona and took the catamarans around the southern tip of Africa, across the Indian Ocean, to the south of Australia and around Cape Horn.

They then headed north past South America to finish in Marseille.

Club Med was regarded as the best prepared boat
The winning boat is skippered by New Zealand's Grant Dalton and France's Franck Proffit.

The crew is mostly French although it does include 37-year-old Briton Neal MacDonald.

Skipper Dalton was delighted with the way the crew had handled the trying conditions.

"The crew has done a great job. Sixty-two days at sea is a long time - whether they ever want to sail with me again is another story!

"We're all humbled by everyone turning out to see us - we had no idea there was so much interest. We absolutely can't believe it", he said.

Two boats cast from same Multiplast hull as Club Med are currently second and third.

Innovation Explorer, skippered by Frenchman Loick Peyron, is some 906 miles from the finish and expected to finish on Monday.

Third-placed Team Adventure is over 6,000 miles from the finish.

Team Legato, the team captained by Englishman Tony Bullimore that made a delayed start, lies fifth with 10,000 miles still left to race.


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