Johnny Vincent's Volvo 70 Pace crossed the Royal Yacht Squadron finish line in Cowes at 04:17:31 BST on Sunday 16 August, taking Monohull Line Honours in the 50th anniversary RORC Round Britain and Ireland Race.
The Juan Kouyoumdjian-designed boat, which won the 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race as Groupama 4, completed the 1,805-nautical-mile course in 6 days, 14 hours, 47 minutes and 31 seconds. The YB tracker recorded 2,113 nautical miles sailed, with deviations after Black Rock and in the northern North Sea.
Pace is also provisionally leading IRC Overall, though the final result depends on remaining contenders including Antoine Magre's Mach 50 Palanad 4, which already won the RORC Transatlantic Race overall before this event.
The race delivered two distinct modes for Pace. West of Ireland and towards Muckle Flugga, the boat exploited favourable conditions for a 486-nautical-mile 24-hour run with speeds touching 27 knots. Navigator Jules Salter, who won the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race aboard Ericsson 4, described the Volvo 70 as "best of breed" that rewards precise angle management.
The final quarter brought a tactical grind through the southern North Sea. The crew executed repeated night gybes past Norfolk, Suffolk, Kent, Sussex and Hampshire, negotiating traffic separation schemes, oil and gas infrastructure, wind farms and exclusion zones before a favourable tide carried them through the Solent.
Vincent, whose previous longest offshore passage was Gibraltar to Southampton, framed the race as "four distinct chapters joined into one extraordinary book"—Fastnet waters, the North Atlantic to Muckle Flugga, the emotionally charged turn for home, and the complex North Sea approach.
"Preparation gives you the confidence to push the boat really hard," Vincent said. "Not recklessly hard, because there is always a margin, but really hard."
The crew included watch captain Stu Bannatyne in his first Round Britain and Ireland Race, alongside Neal McDonald, Pete Cumming and Tom McWilliam.
