Swiss sailor Simon Koster splendid third of Mini-Transat La Boulangère

by Simon Koster on 15 Nov 2017 Swiss sailor Simon Koster has just achieved one of the best recent performances of Swiss offshore sailing, finishing third of the Mini Transat La Boulangère (Atlantic crossing between La Rochelle and Le Marin (Martinique), in two legs.

Sixth of leg one, between La Rochelle and Las Palmas, the skipper of Eight Cube met conditions that were more favorable to his boat during leg two, with stronger winds. He crossed the arrival line in great shape and spirits on Wednesday, at 1:13 04’’ PM (CET), after 13 days, 56 minutes and 10 seconds at sea, at an average speed of 8,78 knots.

'I am very happy to touch land in Le Marin, and also to finish third', he said. 'I haven’t had any information for the past ten days because I broke the radio antenna (the cable, I guess), so I didn’t know if there would be ten boats in the harbor when I arrive… I am super happy because I have been working very hard to get there. A podium is fantastic!'

Third of the second leg in the prototypes category, Simon’s aggregated time over both legs is 24 days, six hours, five minutes and 40 secondes. He should, after the jurys’ approval, end up third overall.

Simon sailed at the front of the fleet during the entire regatta, in the wake of race leader and favorite Simon Lipinski. He lost some ground during the second half of the Atlantic crossing, letting his direct opponent, German Jörg Richers grab the second place thanks to an efficient southerly route.

Simon worked very hard towards his objective over the past two years. Seventh in 2015 with the same boat SUI 888 (fresh out of the yard), with its distinctive scow bow, developed with the support of Michel Desjoyeaux’s yard, Mer Agitée, he now ambitions to benefit from this Mini Transat to develop new and more ambitious projects, including a participation in the Route du Rhum 2018.