Due to low visibility, day two of coastal racing was abandoned; cementing the overall rankings from yesterday
June 6, 2024 – Portland, M.E. – The Italian team #204 Acrobatica sailed by Alberto Riva and Jean Marre completed their dominate two-week run, becoming the 2024 Atlantic Cup Champions. Their first place finish in the Coastal Series yesterday guaranteed them victory for the overall Atlantic Cup. However, the points standings for the rest of the podium was far from decided going into today. Unfortunately, the final course of coastal racing was abandoned due to low visibility from foggy conditions. Therefore, yesterday’s cumulative standings remained, resulting in the French duo of Pierre-Louis Atwell and Maxime Bensa on #195 Vogue Avec Un Crohn narrowly securing second-place by a mere half a point. #177, Everial’s Erwan Le Draoulec and Tanguy Leglatin rounded out the podium in third-place, overall.
After claiming first-place in the first leg (Charleston, S.C. to Newport R.I.) second leg (Newport to Portland, M.E.) and day one of the third leg (Coastal Series) – Acrobatica becomes just the second team (2016 Spanish team Tales II) in Atlantic Cup history to win each leg of competition raced ; a testament to the world-class skill and dominance of Riva and Marre.
Alberto Riva, Skipper, Acrobatica 1st Place Overall:
This was a really great adventure. With the different conditions of each stage of the race we learned a lot about the boat and and ourselves. All of the competitors are really good and we are really happy with the result and to sail here and discover these amazing new places.”
Jean Marre, Co-Skipper of Acrobatica, 1st Place Overall:
“We love to sail so it is a bit of pity not racing today, but we are still really happy that we won. It was a lot of fun it was a great, great race. We both hope to be back at the next edition. All of the parts of the race were very interesting, everything was different. The first leg was really impressive with the Gulf Stream and all the storms, the second leg was interesting in a sport-sense because we saw the fleet on the water with us the whole way, it was very competitive and intense. The inshore race you just couldn’t make any mistakes since it was so short, so it was a lot of pressure. It all-round was a very good race.”
Pierre-Louise Atlwell, Skipper, Vogue Avec Un Crohn 2nd Place Overall:
“We didn’t sail today, but since we got a better place yesterday, we are second overall. We are very happy, it is our best result in a Class40 race, It is interesting for us, because at the beginning of the season we were not doing so great, but now we are in a good place here at the Atlantic Cup. Coming into the Québec Saint-Malo, we hope to continue to learn a lot on this incredible boat and have a lot of emotion about this Atlantic Cup. Thank you very much.”
Erwan Le Draoulec, Skipper, Everial 3rd Place Overall:
“We are really happy to be on the podium of this Class40. The Niji40 was not really good for us, so I am very happy for Everial. But at the same time, second-place was not very far for us and we really wanted to have it because this all is a fun game. It was very close, and we were hoping to sail today, but the conditions didn’t allow. The race was very fun, it was really cool to do a different kind of race for us. It is special to be here in the U.S. we take a lot of pleasure in it, and we hopefully will be back at the next Atlantic Cup.”
Tanguy Leglatin, Co-Skipper, Everial 3rd Place Overall:
“We didn’t sail yesterday like we know we can, the pressure from Pierre-Louis [Atwell] and Maxime [Bensa] was a lot. It would have been a lot of fun to sail again today, but with the fog we couldn’t. It’s a bit sad, but we have lost races before. We quite enjoyed this race, lots of pleasure and amazing to come to the United States. We saw some beautiful places, like Charleston and Newport. We are really happy and feel like we have really improved in our sailing on Everial.”
The Atlantic Cup, the longest offshore sailing race in the Western Atlantic and the most environmentally sustainable sailing race in the U.S., displayed an international fleet of initially eight teams (Scowling Dragon retired after Leg 1 due to damage) representing five different countries: the USA, Canada, Italy, France, and Germany. The teams set sail from Charleston, S.C. on Saturday, May 25, stopped in Newport, R.I. on May 28, before departing on June 1 for the third and final leg of competition held in Portland, Maine, June 3-6.
Team updates will be posted on the race’s social media channels at: Facebook and Instagram.
ABOUT THE ATLANTIC CUP
The 2024 Atlantic Cup starts in Charleston, S.C. on May 25th, stop in Newport, R.I. May 29th through June 1st, and culminate in Portland, Maine, June 3rd -June 6th. The race is free and open to the public. With over 1,000nm of ocean racing, the Atlantic Cup is the longest offshore race in the Western Atlantic and is also the United States’ only short-handed offshore race dedicated to the Class40. Four countries and eights teams comprise the talented field of competitors spanning vast generations and experience.
For more information on the Atlantic Cup please visit http://www.atlanticcup.org/.
