Francois Gabart wins his first solo race aboard the trimaran MACIF: The Transat Bakerly

Job done! Barely six months on from his victory in the Transat Jacques Vabre, Francois Gabart won the 2016 edition of The Transat bakerly on Tuesday 10 May 2016 at 18H 24’ 39’’ (22H 24’ 39’’ GMT), in his first solo race aboard a multihull. The skipper of the trimaran MACIF, who took 8 days 8 hours 54 minutes and 39 seconds to cross the Atlantic between Plymouth and New York, at a true average speed of 23.11 knots, made no secret of his delight at triumphing in this legendary event.

Francois Gabart (born 23 March 1983 in Saint-Michel-d’Entraygues, France) is a French professional offshore yacht racer who won the 2012-13 Vendée Globe in 78 days 2 hours 16 minutes, setting a new race record. In 2017 he set the speed record for sailing around the globe in 42 days 16 hours 40 minutes and 35 seconds finishing on 17 December. He was sailing singlehanded in the 30 metre Trimaran Macif.

François Gabart two years ago momentarily decided to give racing a break last season, despite having learnt a lot from this event. The MACIF trimaran’s skipper used this time to focus on projects in a different way and to recharge his batteries to return stronger than ever last year year. After talking about this together, the MACIF group and François Gabart decided to hand over the helm of the MACIF trimaran to Pascal Bidégorry for The Transat CIC (May 2020).