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First Transatlantic Record in a Mini 6.50 by Jay Thompson

by Jay Thompson 27 Aug 2023 10:08 BST 27 August 2023

At 04h 26m 09s UTC (nearly 5:30 local time in England, 6:30 in France and 12:30pm in NY) on August 21st, Jay crossed the finished line of the West to East Transatlantic Record in a Mini 6.50 in 17 days 9 hours 57 minutes 43 seconds (awaiting ratification by the WSSRC).

After crossing the finish line Jay turned around and continued sailing to Port du Château in Brest, France where he had an amazing welcome and where his hand prints were taken to join in bronze the sailing "walk of fame" of others that have achieved world records.

Today Sunday Jay is sailing the boat to La Base, Lorient for another welcome and next weekend he will move it finally to our home port in Etel for a final full circle of this project, Etel is where Speedy Gonzalez was built.

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